More than 140 police faced misconduct allegations

Dorset Police employs about 1,400 police officers

A total of 146 Dorset Police officers were accused of misconduct between the start of 2021 and the end of 2024, the force said.

Responding to a freedom of information request, it said it held formal misconduct hearings for 19 officers in that time and that four were sacked.

Of the other 15, seven would have been sacked had they not already quit, six were given final written warnings and two got written warnings.

Former PC Christopher Maidment was one of those sacked after he was found to have sexually harassed female colleagues over a two-year period in 2022.

The force said he "carried out unsolicited physical contact and made sexually explicit comments" while on duty between 2019 and 2021.

Dorset Police employs about 1,400 police officers and about 1,300 police staff.

It also employs about 90 police community support officers (PCSOs) and about 100 special constables, who are volunteer police officers.

Earlier this month, the force said Barrie Leigh-Anderson would have been sacked as special constable had he not resigned earlier after he "threatened" supermarket workers.