Vetting procedures

The request was successful.

To whom it may concern,

I would like to make the following request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, 2000.

1) Could you please provide me with your force’s vetting policy, or any guidance on your vetting processes other than the APP on Vetting issued by the College of Policing?

2) Whether or not a specific vetting policy document exists, could you confirm what the minimum checks required are for Recruitment Vetting for police personnel?

3) Could you also confirm whether, as a matter of course, your RV procedures for police personnel currently include checks on social media content?

Yours faithfully,

Matthew Thompson

Freedom of Information Kent, Kent Police

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Thompson,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST FOI/00580/21

 

Thank you for your request received by Kent Police on 8^th November 2021,
I note you seek access, in summary, to information relating to:

 

Vetting procedures/policies

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) provides that a public
authority respond to an FOI request within 20 working days. Although every
effort will be made to ensure a response is provided within statutory
deadlines, due to current circumstances delays may be unavoidable. We
apologise for any inconvenience and will endeavour to process your request
as quickly as is practicable.

 

Your interest in Kent Police is appreciated and pending a specific
response to your request, I enclose a sheet, which summarises your rights.
Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact us via the following telephone number 01622 652610 quoting the
reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Mark Crittenden

Senior Public Disclosure Officer

Freedom of Information

[1][Kent Police request email]

Kent Police Public Disclosure Team

Information Management

Coldharbour, London Road,

Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7SL

 

 

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
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information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
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For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
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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

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1. mailto:[Kent Police request email]

Freedom of Information Kent, Kent Police

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Thompson,

 

With reference to the Freedom of Information request that we received from
you on 8^th November 2021 please find attached the response letter.

 

Should you have any queries relating to this then please do not hesitate
to contact us.

 

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information

Information Management

Kent Police

 

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...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

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...

Letter to chief constables on the police dismissals review
Published 1 September 2023

(from Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire Chris Philp)

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

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/...

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...

officers who cleared vetting but ended up on the College of Policing's Barred List:

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

Vetting Code of Practice updated

Published on 20 July 2023

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

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/...

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/...

BARONESS CASEY REVIEW

Final Report - March 2023

(Relates to the Met but some people might find it useful)

'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/...

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/

Police misconduct, England and Wales year ending 31 March 2022
Published 12 January 2023

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

J Roberts left an annotation ()

Police Integrity

Statement made on 18 September 2023 by Suella Braverman - UIN HCWS1035

'The Government is committed to delivering these important reforms, the majority of which require changes to secondary legislation, and will work with stakeholders to deliver these as soon as practicable.

The review report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on Gov.UK.'

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

Home Office Review: The process of police officer dismissals

19/9/23

'Sir Robert Peel famously said, “the police are the public, and the public are the police”. But this does not mean the police should be held to the same standards as the general public. The Government, the public and the policing sector should rightly expect more.'

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

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://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...