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 (Norfolk), Norfolk Constabulary

During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic our practices may not meet our usual response times and it may take longer for us to respond to your requests. We will continue to work normally as far as we can, but, as the situation continues to develop, the focus of the team may need to be diverted to the most important aspects of work, which may place unavoidable strain on our resources that we cannot avoid.
Due to the current volume of work, we are unable to provide individual responses regarding updates on requests. We ask that you please bare with us during this extraordinary period and we will endeavour to provide final disclosures to you as soon as possible.

Freedom Of Information (Suffolk),

2 Attachments

1 December 2021

 

Dear Matthew Thompson,     

        

Our Ref: FOI 003792/21

 

Please find PDF documents attached in response to your request for
information from Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies.

                                                                                        

Please note that as a result of collaborative working, your request is
being dealt with as a Joint FOI Request on behalf of Norfolk and Suffolk
Constabularies.

 

This is to inform you that all information relating to your request has
been collated my response is attached.  This request is now complete and
shall be closed immediately.

 

Should any further information be requested regarding this topic, a
separate request will need to be submitted.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Clair Pack

Freedom of Information Decision Maker (Suffolk)

 

Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies

Police Headquarters

Portal Avenue, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich

Suffolk, IP5 3QS

01473 613888 Ext 3919

[mobile number]

[1]www.suffolk.police.uk

[2]www.norfolk.police.uk

 

 

 

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Dear Freedom Of Information (Suffolk),

Many thanks for your response. I just wanted to clarify an element of it however. You say in your response that your policy on vetting follows the guidance set out in the APP from the College of Policing. Meaning social media vetting is a part of your standard RV policy.

But could you please tell me whether, for the purposes of such social media vetting, the details of platforms used and profile names used are dependent on disclosure by the applicant?

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Thompson

Freedom Of Information (Suffolk),

Thank you for your email, which has been received by the Suffolk Constabulary FOI team.

During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our practices may not meet our usual response times and it may take longer for us to respond to your requests. We will continue to work normally as far as we can, but, as the situation continues to develop, the focus of the team may need to be diverted to the most important aspects of work, which may place unavoidable strain on our resources that we cannot avoid.

Due to the current volume of work, we are unable to provide individual responses regarding updates on requests. We ask that you please bare with us during this extraordinary period and we will endeavour to provide final disclosures to you as soon as possible.
This e-mail carries a disclaimer

Go here to view Suffolk Constabulary Disclaimer<http://www.suffolk.police.uk/emaildiscla...>

Freedom Of Information (Suffolk),

Dear Matthew,

Our Vetting Team has confirmed as follows, which I hope assists:

It is a mixture of both, we ask applicants to provide details of their profile names and pictures on their profiles, but we also search across all platforms to see what/if anything we can find on an applicant.

Many thanks

Clair Pack
Freedom of Information Decision Maker (Suffolk)

Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies
Police Headquarters
Portal Avenue, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich
Suffolk, IP5 3QS
01473 613888 Ext 3919
[mobile number]
www.suffolk.police.uk
www.norfolk.police.uk

show quoted sections

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/...

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)

'7.22.25 Forces should check content on publically available social media sites for the purposes of service reputational reassurance, and to ensure that the applicant’s online behaviour is compatible with the Code of Ethics or Standards of Professional Behaviour.

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...

Related:

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

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

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

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

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...