What is police misconduct?
Police misconduct occurs when a member or members of the police abuse commit an action or exhibit behaviour that breach the standards of professional behaviour for police officers. This could be using excessive force on a detained person who isn’t resisting arrest, arresting someone without reasonable belief that they committed a crime, sexual misconduct, false arrest, etc.
Police misconduct facts
Police misconduct is more common than you might think; at TDP Solicitors we have represented a myriad of cases against the police. You might be shocked by the following police misconduct facts released by gov.uk for the year 2023:
- 1,300 individuals from the police underwent formal misconduct proceedings, encompassing 972 police officers and 328 police staff members.
- Among the officers, the predominant form of proceedings was a misconduct meeting, with 53% being directed to such sessions (519 out of the 972 officers involved in misconduct proceedings). Within this group, 79% (409 officers) were found guilty of misconduct.
- 27% of officers were subjected to misconduct hearings (266 out of the 972 officers in misconduct proceedings). Of these, 78% (207 officers) were proven to have committed gross misconduct, while 9% (25 officers) were found guilty of misconduct.
- 19% of officers faced accelerated misconduct hearings (187 out of the 972 officers in misconduct proceedings). Among them, 99% (186 officers) were determined to have committed gross misconduct, with only 1% (1 officer) found guilty of misconduct.
As you can see from these police misconduct facts, a significant number of individuals (1,300) were involved in formal misconduct proceedings, indicating the alarming presence of misconduct within the police force. While the majority of those referred to proceedings were police officers (972 out of 1,300), police staff members were also called to court. These police misconduct facts demonstrate that misconduct is not exclusive to a specific rank or role within the police department
Seeking representation for police misconduct
If you have been impacted by police misconduct and wish to claim compensation, at TDP Solicitors we are here to help you. We understand how upsetting police misconduct experiences can be; we can hold your hand throughout the entire process and guide you toward justice.
Please get a touch for a free, confidential chat on 0151 242 5111 and we can see how we can help. Alternatively, contact us by email at info@tdpsolicitors.co.uk