Above the law

THAT more than 900 serving police officers and community support staff have criminal convictions will surprise many, given that these individuals are arbiters of the law and should be beyond reproach at all times.

By The Newsroom

Published 3rd Jan 2012, 09:14 BST

That said, this is a tiny proportion of the overall number of police employees – even though the West and North Yorkshire forces were among those who declined to respond to a Freedom of Information requests on cost grounds.

And, to put these statistics into further context, there is a world of difference between the South Yorkshire officer convicted of fishing without a licence and those officers, elsewhere, who have past convictions for offences like GBH or fraud.

However, Home Office guidelines, issued in 2003, say officers should have “proven integrity” and the reputation of the police is not helped by those forces that have chosen not to release the relevant data.

At a time when trust in public life is at such a low ebb, it is incumbent on every police force to reassure the public, wherever possible, that the conduct of every officer is above the law.