Devon and Cornwall Police misconduct cases 'unacceptable'

Details of 7,210 Devon and Cornwall Police staff and volunteers were reviewed against the Police National Database

A leading Devon and Cornwall Police officer said the number of misconduct cases in the force has been unacceptable.

Staff were among more than 300,000 who underwent a national review of background checks.

This was set up after Metropolitan Police PC David Carrick's conviction for 49 offences.

Several Devon and Cornwall officers have been in misconduct tribunals in recent years with some being dismissed.

Following the National Police Chiefs' Council's review, the force was told no further criminal, disciplinary or re-vetting action was required for the 7,210 employees looked into.

However, a "small number" of workers are in need of support after being a victim or witness of a crime.

'Unacceptable amount'

Deputy Chief Constable Dave Thorne from Devon and Cornwall Police said the force had been committed to taking an open and transparent approach to the project.

He went on to acknowledge there had been an "increased and unacceptable amount of misconduct cases" within the force in recent years.

Cases involving police staff from the force include a former officer making sexualised comments and sending misogynistic messages to female colleagues and another PC who lied over police radio.

The force's Chief Constable Will Kerr remains suspended after being accused of sexual offences in Northern Ireland.

• Police officer's behaviour was gross misconduct

• Former special constabulary sergeant guilty of gross misconduct

• Twenty officers and staff faced misconduct claims

Mr Thorne said: "I hope this data wash provides some level of reassurance to our communities that we are committed to ensuring the highest standards of integrity that the public rightly expect of us and that we will continue to robustly remove any individuals in our force that do not uphold those standards.

"We look forward to working with the Home Office, National Police Chiefs' Council and other forces to consider a longer-term integrity solution for policing which aims to alert forces to any new information about staff member in a timely manner."

Review after PC jailed

The National Police Chiefs' Council analysed vetting details of police workers and volunteers across UK forces as part of the review.

The results flagged up more than 400 incidents nationally of previously undisclosed misconduct, including allegations of sexual offences and theft.

The review was launched following the conviction in February 2023 of Carrick, who was jailed for more than 30 years for a series of sexual offences over a 17-year period.