Number of police officers guilty of crimes in England and Wales soars

More than 150 police officers and staff in England and Wales were found guilty of crimes last year after a complaint or misconduct investigation – up 70% compared with the year before.

Home Office figures show that, in the year to April 2023, 115 officers and 43 staff were found guilty of crimes including sexual offences and violence against the person – up from 68 and 25 the year before.

The figures will have included the serial rapist and ex-Metropolitan police officer David Carrick, who was jailed for life in February 2023 after pleading guilty to 85 serious offences including 48 rapes.

The figures show that 33 officers and seven police staff were found guilty of sexual offences – the most common category of crime – while 18 officers and five staff were guilty of violence against the person offences. Nineteen officers and 15 staff were found guilty of traffic offences, four officers and two staff were convicted for theft, and four officers and one staff member were guilty of criminal damage.

The figures include only criminal proceedings that originally started from a complaint, conduct matter or recordable conduct matter, and took place under regulations introduced in 2020 – meaning the total number of convicted police officers could be even higher.

Other officers convicted of crimes over the year included the Met police officer Will Scott-Barrett, who sent sexual Snapchat and Discord messages to a 15-year-old boy; Francois Olwage, found guilty of arranging to meet what he believed was a 13-year-old girl for sex; Jonathon Cobban and ex-PC Joel Borders, who were guilty of sharing grossly offensive messages in a WhatsApp group with Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens; and Mathew Cooper, guilty of controlling and coercive behaviour after tracking his partner’s movements and stopping her contacting her friends.

The Home Office figures show misconduct proceedings that took place within police forces led to 393 findings that officers were guilty of gross misconduct over the year, and a further 435 findings of misconduct. Forty-two per cent (352) of these cases led to an officer being dismissed from the force, or would have led to their dismissal had they still been serving.

About a third of police officers in England and Wales – 42,854 – received a public complaint about them. About 71% of the allegations made were serious enough that they involved either death or injury, or if proven they may have resulted in criminal or disciplinary proceedings. However, only 1% were assessed to see whether there was a case to answer, 0.3% were found to have a case to answer, and 0.2% were referred to misconduct proceedings.

Male police officers – who make up 65% of the force – were the subject of 70% of public complaints, and 82% of misconduct proceedings.