A total of 42 Metropolitan Police officers and staff were disciplined for misconduct in the first two months of the year, including a constable who was sacked for “internet paedophile activity”, new figures have revealed.
For the first time, Scotland Yard has published the outcomes of misconduct hearings online as part of a transparency drive to boost public confidence in the force. The figures for January and February show 19 officers were fired, 10 received a formal reprimand, eight resigned before a hearing was held and five received a written warning.

Among those disciplined was a constable sacked for accessing the national database to spy on an ex-partner, a detective constable sacked after being charged for an assault on their partner and a PCSO sacked for making inappropriate comments to colleagues.

The police force also published figures for the whole of 2012, which showed 232 misconduct hearings were held, resulting in the dismissal of 96 police officers or staff.

Among the hearings were the cases of a special constable, a part-time volunteer, who abused their position to access a remand prisoner, a constable sacked for supplying fireworks to under-age children and a sergeant fired for possessing indecent images.

Another case saw a police constable dismissed for eating food in a supermarket without paying, while another resigned before a misconduct hearing to face allegations of sending abusive text messages to a woman.

In June last year, the figures show a constable resigned before a misconduct hearing to face allegations of having a relationship with a police cadet, who can be aged between 13 and 18.

A PCSO, special constable and two police constables faced hearings in 2012 for making racist comments towards their colleagues. A constable was fired last September after being caught with child porn, while another was sacked for holding an ex-partner’s 10-year-old in a headlock.

In February, Home Secretary Theresa May revealed a range of measures aimed at restoring faith in the police service in the wake of a series of scandals.

A national register of sacked officers will be set up in a bid to stop dismissed police from being recruited by other forces, while vetting procedures will be tightened. Scotland Yard said its Professional Standards team will publish misconduct outcomes on a quarterly basis in a bid to “increase openness” and showing the public that employees are “held to account when behaviour falls below expected standards”.

News published on: http://www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/police-misconduct-figures-released-8599001.html