Chiefs vow to stamp out sex abuse in police force

Chief Constable Rachel Kearton and Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore say they are committed to tackling misogyny and abuse within the force

Police bosses have stressed their commitment to stamping out workplace misogyny and sexual abuse within their force.

Suffolk's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Tim Passmore and Chief Constable Rachel Kearton were quizzed on the issue after several recent cases involving officers.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Radio Suffolk’s Sarah Lilley, the pair said such behaviour was unacceptable but denied it was widespread within the force.

“I absolutely know that 99.9% of people within Suffolk Police are diligent, professional, caring and extremely well behaved," said Mr Passmore.

Last month PC Stuart Barney was allowed to keep his job after pinging one colleague’s bra and telling another “you can sit on my face”.

He was also found to have made comments about female colleagues' breasts and caused “psychological harm” by acting in an “intimidating and humiliating” way.

In June, meanwhile, the BBC reported a high-ranking police officer known only as ‘Y’ was struck off after having sex with junior colleagues.

In July, Ipswich Crown Court heard how Ryan Althorpe, a former temporary sergeant, had been sexually inappropriate towards an alleged rape victim.

Althorpe, of Meadow Crescent, Ipswich, was jailed for 10 months after the judge said he had “exploited and traumatised” the woman.

Chief Constable Rachel Kearton said she was striving to change the culture within the force

Ms Kearton said: “Are we where I would like us to be? No, we are not, otherwise we wouldn’t be having those headlines.

“But what we have had in the last two and a half years are a number of cases that have dealt with a culture that I think has been long-standing for some time."

She said she had started to implement cultural change since taking over in 2022.

“There’s more work to do but I’ve come from a background of 35 years in the police service and I’ve seen it significantly change across the years," she said.

During that time, at various forces, she had experienced comments and behaviour from men and women "that wouldn’t be the most professional", she said.

“But at Suffolk Police I am immensely proud of the people I work with and the efforts they go to change the culture.

“They know how to challenge poor behaviour, even if that is upwards into the hierarchy - there is still a place for that to be called out to be dealt with immediately.”

Tim Passmore said the force did "not tolerate abuse behaviour"

Mr Passmore, Suffolk's Conservative PCC since 2012, vowed to come down hard on anyone found acting inappropriately.

“I don’t think Suffolk has got a big problem but I am not for a moment saying there aren’t individual cases," he said.

“In any large organisation with 2,500 people, sadly, there will be one or two badly behaved individuals who should jolly well know better.

“What I do know is the constabulary does not tolerate abusive and misogynistic behaviour and there is no place for that in policing in Suffolk.

“We are not going to put up with this and when this happens these people are quite rightly dealt with severely and, if necessary, are dismissed from the service.

“The culture of behaving properly is absolutely crucial.”