Number of police officers who have failed vetting procedures

Louisa JAMES made this Freedom of Information request to Essex Police as part of a batch sent to 45 authorities Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

The request was successful.

Dear Essex Police,

Please provide me with the following information

1. The number of potential new recruits to the force who underwent the vetting process in 2019
2. The number who passed the vetting process
3. The number who failed the vetting process
4. Of those of officers who passed (Question 2), the number who have since faced any formal disciplinary action, including dismissal]

5. Please repeat the above 4 questions for 2020
6. Please repeat the above 4 questions for 2021
7. Please repeat the above 4 questions for 2022

Yours faithfully,

Louisa JAMES

Info Rights Freedom Essex, Essex Police

Thank you for your communication, your enquiry will be dealt with within
our core office hours and you will be issued with a unique reference
number once your request has been processed and logged. 

 

Essex Police have developed a publication strategy, our aim is to reduce
the demand within the FOI Department and to provide knowledge to the
public to include previous and combined FOI requests together with
relevant links and information.  

  

Please visit this area of our website before submitting FOI requests as
information may already be available.   

 

[1]https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/ac...

 

This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to https://www.kent.police.uk/hyg/privacy/ or
https://www.essex.police.uk/hyg/privacy/. Additionally for our Terms and
Conditions please go to https://www.kent.police.uk/hyg/terms-con...
or https://www.essex.police.uk/hyg/terms-co...

References

Visible links
1. https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/ac...

Info Rights Freedom Essex, Essex Police

1 Attachment

Thank you for your request for information, which has been logged under
the above reference number.     

  

Essex Police will endeavour to respond to your application within 20
working days, as set out within the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA).  If a time extension is to be applied to your request, you will be
informed; the reason for the extension will also be provided.     

  

Please note that Essex Police may refuse detailed or multiple requests
that are submitted at the same time, as per [1]Section 14 of the FOIA.
Furthermore, if the information sought is already publicly available, you
may be redirected to our publication scheme:
[2]https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/ac... or other
official links, such as the [3]PFCC, [4]Home Office or the [5]Office for
National Statistics  

   

Should you need to contact us whilst your information request is being
processed, please email [6][Essex Police request email], quoting
the above reference, and a member of the team will assist.    

 

FOI Team | Information Management Department | Information Rights Section
| Essex Police 

Telephone: 101 | Email: [7][Essex Police request email] 

Address: Information Management Department, Information Rights Section,
Essex Police HQ, PO Box 2, Chelmsford CM2 6DA   

  

For more information about your information rights, or how Essex Police
use your personal data please visit our Privacy Notice via the Essex
Police website
[8]https://www.essex.police.uk/hyg/fpnessex...

  

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Info Rights Freedom Essex, Essex Police

2 Attachments

Thank you for your Freedom of information (FOI) request logged under the
above reference.

 

Please accept our apologies in respect of the delay you have experienced,
we have struggled with resourcing and therefore we have not met the
service expected.

 

We are now in a position to dedicate time to review our outstanding work
and can respond as below.

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public
authorities:

 

Unless exemptions apply, the first duty (at [1]Section 1(1)(a) is to
confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held.

The second duty (at [2]Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has
been confirmed as being held.

However, where exemptions are relied upon ([3]Section 17 of FOIA), there
is a requirement to provide the applicant with an explanation either:

a) stating the fact

b) detailing the exemption(s) in question and

c) why the exemption applies (if not apparent).

 

Information Request

 

Please provide me with the following information

 

1. The number of potential new recruits to the force who underwent the
vetting process in 2019

2. The number who passed the vetting process

3. The number who failed the vetting process

4. Of those of officers who passed (Question 2), the number who have since
faced any formal disciplinary action, including dismissal]

 

5. Please repeat the above 4 questions for 2020

6. Please repeat the above 4 questions for 2021

7. Please repeat the above 4 questions for 2022

 

FOI Duty

First Duty – Essex Police holds some of the information relating to your
request

Second Duty – See below

Fact - It is not possible to extract and verify all the data in your
request

Exemption - [4]Section 12(1)

Refusal - [5]Section 17(5) of FOIA

 

Reasoning -

 

With regard to Questions 4, 5 ,6 and 7, it is not possible to accurately
extract data on how many people passed the Essex Police recruitment
vetting process but then went on to face disciplinary action within the
time and cost limits of an FOI request. Not all those who pass vetting
then go on to be employed as they may fail other areas of the recruitment
process, such as medical, fitness, references, biometrics or interview. To
answer these questions would therefore require conducting multiple
searches on each applicant against the CoreVet vetting system, the HR
system and then cross referencing to the Centurion database used by the
Professional Standards Department. This would take considerable effort to
achieve and would be regarded as burdensome.

 

Duty to assist - When refusing a request on cost ([6]Section 12(1)/12(2),
outside of the act and in effort to assist we can provide the following -

 

Essex Police can report as follows:

 

Caveat: the information is correct as of 27 March 2023

 

Numbers passing through the Essex Police vetting process – 2019 to 2022

2019 2020 2021 2022 Total
The number of potential new recruits to the
force who underwent the vetting process 423* 369* 495* 415* 1,702*
The number who passed the vetting process 404 336 465 380 1,585
The number who failed the vetting process 19 33 23 35 110

 

*The numbers of those who initially underwent the vetting process are
approximate. If a recruit is subject to vetting and is rejected /
withdrawn by HR this data would be destroyed after 12 months - as per the
requirements of the GDPR.

 

Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is
accurate and complete.  However, Essex Police systems are designed
primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes
of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries.  Please note although
data can be extracted from a number of sources via database queries, the
results may be subject to inaccuracies.  Care should be taken to
understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use
of the data.

 

The following information available via our publication scheme may also be
of interest:

 

[7]Vetting of Police Officers and Police Staff 2018 to 2020 | Essex Police

 

[8]C3200 Procedure - Vetting | Essex Police

 

Please note the above request will be included within our [9]Publication
Scheme.

 

Essex Police trusts that the links and information provided is of
assistance. Thank you for your interest in Essex Police.

 

FOI Team | Information Management Department | Information Rights Section
| Essex Police

Telephone: 101 | Email: [10][Essex Police request email]

Address: Information Management Department, Information Rights Section,
Essex Police HQ, PO Box 2, Chelmsford CM2 6DA

 

For more information about your information rights, or how Essex Police
use your personal data please visit our Privacy Notice via the Essex
Police website
[11]https://www.essex.police.uk/hyg/fpnessex...

Essex Police have developed a publication strategy, our aim is to reduce
the demand within the FOI Department and to provide knowledge to the
public to include previous and combined FOI requests together with
relevant links and information. Please visit this area of our website
before submitting FOI requests as information may already be available.
[12]https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/ac...

 

Please note, if you require further information or wish to resubmit a
request, please refer to the information found on the Commissioner’s
website regarding submission of effective requests: [13]How to access
information from a public body | ICO

 

Your right to complain

 

If you feel your request has not been properly handled, or you are
otherwise dissatisfied with the outcome of your request you have the right
to complain.

 

Under [14]Section 17(7)(a)(b) FOIA complaints should be submitted within
20 working days from the date of this response and should be addressed to
the Information Rights Manager at the above address or by email to:
[15][Essex Police request email]

 

We will conduct a review to investigate your complaint and endeavour to
reply within 20 working days. Please explain which aspect of the
disclosure you are not satisfied with, and if your complaint concerns the
decision to apply an exemption, please specify if you wish an internal
review to take place and why you believe the exemption does not apply.

 

If you are still dissatisfied following our review, you have the right
under the [16]Section 50 FOIA to complain directly to the Information
Commissioner. Before considering your complaint, the Information
Commissioner would normally expect you to have exhausted the complaints
procedures provided by Essex Police.

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF or via [17]Home | ICO

 

 

 

From: Info Rights Freedom Essex <[Essex Police request email]>
Sent: 18 January 2023 16:03
To: Louisa JAMES <[FOI #939670 email]>
Subject: FOI 18016 Vetting of Recruits 2019 to 2022

 

Thank you for your request for information, which has been logged under
the above reference number.

 

Essex Police will endeavour to respond to your application within 20
working days, as set out within the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA). If a time extension is to be applied to your request, you will be
informed; the reason for the extension will also be provided.

 

Please note that Essex Police may refuse detailed or multiple requests
that are submitted at the same time, as per [18]Section 14 of the FOIA.
Furthermore, if the information sought is already publicly available, you
may be redirected to our publication scheme:
[19]https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/ac... or other
official links, such as the [20]PFCC, [21]Home Office or the [22]Office
for National Statistics

 

Should you need to contact us whilst your information request is being
processed, please email [23][Essex Police request email], quoting
the above reference, and a member of the team will assist.

 

FOI Team | Information Management Department | Information Rights Section
| Essex Police

Telephone: 101 | Email: [24][Essex Police request email]

Address: Information Management Department, Information Rights Section,
Essex Police HQ, PO Box 2, Chelmsford CM2 6DA

 

For more information about your information rights, or how Essex Police
use your personal data please visit our Privacy Notice via the Essex
Police website
[25]https://www.essex.police.uk/hyg/fpnessex...

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Info Rights Freedom Essex,

Many thanks for taking the time to provide me with this information.

Yours sincerely,

Louisa JAMES

J Roberts left an annotation ()

Related requests:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/v...

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/v...

The following relates to the Met but some people might find it useful:

BARONESS CASEY
REVIEW

Final Report

'3.3 Vetting

Very serious concerns have been raised about the vetting procedures being applied to Met recruits as well as the process for re-vetting serving officers.'

https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

Angiolini Inquiry part 2: terms of reference

Published 11 May 2023

'1. The extent to which systems, policies and processes for the recruitment, vetting and transfer of police officers are fit for purpose and help to identify those who display misogynistic and/or predatory attitudes and behaviours, including...'

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...

IOPC 23/5/23:

"We have also been working closely with the Angiolini Inquiry, sharing evidence to inform its work looking at cultural issues within policing and addressing the broader concerns around women’s safety in public highlighted by Sarah Everard’s death."

https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/io...

HMICFRS:

Vetting, misconduct and misogyny in the police service: review of progress – letter

Published on: 11 May 2023

'But some responses weren’t detailed enough, and a few forces appeared to have either downplayed or overstated their progress in some areas. In some of these cases, we made enquiries to verify or refute the information in their self‑assessments. This has helped us to establish a more accurate and informed picture of progress.'

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/...

London Evening Standard 11/5/23:

'HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services said it had uncovered new “you cannot be serious, you are really letting that person in?” cases of unsuitable people being recruited during a inspection of forces including the Met.'

https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/metro...

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/m...

HMICFRS report:

An inspection of vetting, misconduct, and misogyny in the police service
Published on: 2 November 2022

'Following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, the then Home Secretary commissioned HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) under section 54(2B) of the Police Act 1996 to assess current vetting and counter-corruption capacity and capability in policing across England and Wales. This was to include forces’ ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.

We were asked to consider current vetting (and re-vetting), arrangements for transferees, whistleblowing arrangements, the work of counter-corruption units and, where relevant, wider Professional Standards '

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/...

London Evening Standard 23/5/23:

London Policing Board to oversee reform of Met Police after damning report

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/l...

Police complaints Statistics for England and Wales 2021/22 (Experimental statistics)

https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/police-...

Update on actions to improve police standards and culture
Statement made on 1 March 2023 - UIN HLWS579

'As of this date, all force HR records have been prepared for the datawash which will conclude by the end of March, cross-checking over 326,000 officers and staff against relevant PND records. Forces will then interrogate this data and take action to investigate where necessary.
...
As well as driving up standards in police vetting and dealing with misconduct, the Home Secretary has been clear that policing needs to address the root causes of poor, and in some cases toxic, cultures.' Chris Philp

https://questions-statements.parliament....

Daily Mail 2/3/23

'Every police officer will be re-vetted if there is a change in their circumstances...'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

IOPC:

Statement in response to HMICFRS report into vetting, misconduct and misogyny in policing

https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/st...

Officer David Carrick - 'one of the worst sexual offenders in modern criminal history'. The Guardian

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/o...

The Guardian - 25/2/23:

Revealed: one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced a criminal charge last year

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023...

The Guardian:

Dozens of UK police officers disciplined over sexual contact with crime victims and witnesses

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023...

College of Policing:

APP on Vetting 2021
(Authorised Professional Practice)

'7.23.4 There is no legal requirement for biometric vetting to be conducted on police staff. However, police staff posts that are intrinsically frontline-fac ing and/or involve considerable time spent with the public should be subjected to biometric vetting.

Forces should conduct an audit of police staff posts and identify those for which biometric vetting is proportionate and justifiable.'

https://library.college.police.uk/docs/c...

Police Me Too (TRIGGER WARNING)

https://police-me-too.co.uk/

J Roberts left an annotation ()

The Guardian 5/7/23

'2,000 police in England and Wales may face sack in vetting revamp'

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023...

Chris Philp answered this parliamentary question from Jim Shannon:

UIN 187654, tabled on 5 June 2023

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of vetting of police staff.

https://questions-statements.parliament....

State of Policing: The Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2022

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary (9/6/23)

'Dismissing corrupt and incompetent officers

...

The police do have some tools to dismiss those people who are unsuitable to be police officers, but they don’t always use these tools effectively. The quality of misconduct investigations needs to improve. In our inspection of vetting, misconduct and misogyny in the police service, we found shortcomings in almost 20 percent of the investigations we reviewed.' p36

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/...

HMICFRS:

Vetting and Anti-corruption Part 1: How effective is the National Crime Agency at dealing with corruption?

20 June 2023

'Our only concern about the NCA’s vetting process is the willingness of its staff to report concerns about their colleagues. We cover this in our section on prejudicial and improper behaviour.'

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

R (Victor) v Chief Constable of West Mercia Police [2023] EWHC 2119 (Admin)

This judicial review concerns a student probationer police constable who was sacked after her vetting clearance was removed.

Her Claim was dismissed.

The Judgment includes a lot of useful information.

https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...

London Evening Standard - 31/8/23:

'Police officers will face automatic dismissal if found guilty of gross misconduct under plans to overhaul the disciplinary process.
...
Independent lawyers will continue to sit on the panel to advise and maintain “rigour”, but now in a supporting role.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “Corrupt police officers and those who behave poorly or fail vetting must be kicked out of our forces. For too long our police chiefs have not had the powers they need to root out those who have no place wearing the uniform.
Now they can take swift and robust action to sack officers who should not be serving our communities.'

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/po...

Daily Mail 25/8/23:

'EXCLUSIVE - Revealed: More than half of all police officers reported for abusing their position for sex in the past five years are STILL serving'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Vetting Code of Practice updated

Published on 20 July 2023

https://www.college.police.uk/article/ve...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 Report
Last updated 29 February 2024

Report of part 1 of the Angiolini Inquiry into the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by an off-duty officer of the Metropolitan Police.

'4.21 It is important to note at the outset that there are two types of vetting regime in the police service:

[1] Force vetting is applied to all individuals who require unsupervised access to police assets and must be underpinned by the completion of the ‘authentication procedure’, which is used to confirm an individual’s identity, nationality, right to work and residency. The force vetting process consists of the following:

Recruitment Vetting...
Management Vetting...
Non-Police Personnel Vetting...

[2] National Security Vetting allows individuals access to government information, locations and equipment. The three common categories of vetting under the National Security Vetting framework are the Counter Terrorist Check, Security Check and Developed Vetting.'

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...

Update on actions to improve police standards and culture

Statement made on 25 January 2024 by Chris Philp

Statement UIN HCWS212

'The Government has committed to provide further funding to the NPCC to develop an automated and continuous vetting system, enabling the identification of new information on officers and staff to be sent directly, at pace, to the force concerned. The NPCC will continue to work closely with the Home Office to achieve this.'

https://questions-statements.parliament....

Misconduct hearings:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...