Nine Northants Police staff suspended over sex assault claims

Northamptonshire Police has made extra investment into its professional standards

A police force said it had nine staff currently suspended due to ongoing criminal investigations into rape or sexual assault.

Northamptonshire Police said a further five were suspended during inquiries into harassment, two for domestic violence and two for theft.

Chief Constable Nick Adderley is also suspended over an unrelated matter.

Det Ch Supt Emma James said the force took "allegations of police-perpetrated crime extremely seriously".

Police said the 18 employees, including 16 police officers, suspended due to ongoing criminal investigations were from a "workforce of more than 2,500 officers and staff".

Det Ch Supt James said the force had "moved quickly" following the independent review into Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens.

Lady Elish Angiolini completed the inquiry into Couzens, who was a serving police officer at the time he committed the murder.

Her report said opportunities were missed to stop him and a radical overhaul of police vetting and recruitment was needed.

It also said the victims of Couzens' indecent exposures who had reported his offending were not taken sufficiently seriously by the police.

Det Ch Supt James said detectives were now "reviewing all 79 indecent exposure cases reported to Northamptonshire Police within the past 12 months", which will be completed by the end of this month.

Mr Adderley has been suspended due to an ongoing misconduct and criminal investigation into claims he misrepresented his military service.

He is also facing a second criminal inquiry at his former force, Staffordshire Police, over allegations of fraud in relation to the maintenance of police vehicles.

Mr Adderley has been previously contacted for comment but has so far not responded.

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Speaking at a meeting of Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel last week, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold said professional standards was a "very serious area of work".

He said there was a new external phone line for members of the public to report wrongdoing by police, which was a recommendation by Lady Elish.

He said Lady Elish's team would be visiting the force, after it volunteered to be "audited" and have recommendations made.