Allegations of Abuse of Position for a Sexual Purpose 2018 to 2022
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities:
Unless exemptions apply, the first duty (at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held.
The second duty (at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
However, where exemptions are relied upon (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
Under the Freedom of Information Act, please provide the following answers relating to allegations of abuse of position for a sexual purpose broken down by each of the last five calendar years including 2022 for each answer:
1/ The number of allegations of abuse of position for a sexual purpose made against staff.
2/ The highest number of allegations made against an individual officer over the entirety of the period. Please also state if the individual has been dismissed.
3/ All misconduct outcomes relating to allegations, including the number of staff who were dismissed as a result of the allegation.
4/ All criminal outcomes of allegations broken down by a) charges and b) convictions.
5/ The number of allegations a) investigated and then b) upheld by i) PSD and ii) IOPC.
FOI Duty
First Duty – Essex Police holds some of the information relating to your request
Second Duty – See below
Fact – Complaints as cases are individually identified, investigated and managed within the Centurion system by Professional Standards. Crime data is recorded on Athena – case management system
Essex Police record in line with police regulations 2020, home office guidance and IOPC Statutory guidance 2020
When a public complaint is received, an investigating officer is assigned a case and a severity assessment is completed in conjunction with the Appropriate Authority, depending on the level of assessment as set by regulations then a complaint may result in a conduct matter, gross misconduct or criminal charge. The assessment will continuously be reviewed together with management or the appropriate authority.
In February 2020 new regulations came into practice, and as such, new complaint strand headings were put in place which provide clearer understanding and extraction, the published guidelines based on the set 11 Complaint Categories A-L with 45 sub-categories and Misconduct Categories. Complaint and misconduct data are recorded pre strand in a case. It does not cover each Officer allegation within a separate complaint. Each complaint or misconduct case is likely to have more than one complaint/misconduct strand or category and could include multiple Officers subject to a complaint strand. please see Statutory guidance on the police complaints system (policeconduct.gov.uk) or page 28 of the linked Guidance document below. Guidance_on_capturing_data_about_police_complaints_Jan2021.pdf (policeconduct.gov.uk) (appendix A page 24)
Exemption – Not applicable
Disclosure – See below
Essex Police can report as follows:
Caveats: The data is correct as at 11/05/2023.
Caveat 1:
A public complaint can have several different allegations (strands) against a police officer or police staff in one complaint case. This data return reports the number of allegations against Police officers, Special constables and Police Staff.
Caveat 2 :
Essex Police have persistent complainers as defined within the IOPC complaints guidance and this is applicable to one complaint allegation in this response.
Question 1:
The number of allegations of abuse of position for a sexual purpose made against staff?
Total Complaint allegations = 9
(6 of these allegations are live investigations, 3 of these cases have been closed as No Further Action, withdrawn by complainant or service level acceptable)
2018 = 0
2019 = 0
2020= 2
2021 = 4
2022 = 3
Total Conduct allegations = 15 (please see below answers for extra context)
2018 = 3
2019 = 4
2020 = 2
2021 = 3
2022 = 3
Question 2:
The highest number of allegations made against an individual officer over the entirety of the period. Please also state if the individual has been dismissed?
One officer had 3 allegations made against them. (2 x allegations in 2021 and 1 x allegation in 2022).
- One of these cases was withdrawn by the complainant
- One of these case concluded as “No case to answer”
- One of these cases is still being investigated and the officer is suspended from work. The officer is still employed by Essex Police, but suspended from work.
Question 3:
All misconduct outcomes relating to allegations, including the number of staff who were dismissed as a result of the allegation?
Totals
Outcome : “Would have dismissed if had not resigned/retired” = 3
Outcome : “Dismissed without notice” = 1
Outcome : “No case to answer” = 5
Outcome : “Discontinued” = 2
Live investigations = 4
Question 4:
All criminal outcomes of allegations broken down by a) charges and b) convictions?
2 x conduct cases were investigated criminally, final disposal was No Further Action in both cases
Question 5:
The number of allegations a) investigated and then b) upheld by i) PSD and ii) IOPC?
Total Complaint allegations = 9
- 3 allegations have been finalised after being investigated by PSD - none of which have been upheld
Conduct allegations = 15
- 11 allegations have been finalised after being investigated
- 9 of these allegations were investigated by PSD (3 x “Case to Answer and 6 x “No Case to Answer”)
- 2 of these allegations were investigated by the IOPC (both “Case to Answer”)
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 conduct of a Police Officer or a Police Staff member is an important issue and Essex Police regularly receive FOI requests regarding misconduct and complaints both the PFCC and the Police Service need to be accountable and transparent regarding this issue. Essex Police have an internal anonymous reporting tool, external and internal IAG, PSD Focus Groups, Professionalism Engagement Team set up to specifically tackle these issues. Data suggests reporting methods are working well and increased publication and transparency together with work both internally and externally with PSD is gaining and retaining trust The following links have been provided to guide you to other sources of information published through OPFCC, NPCC, IOPC and on the Essex Police Website.
The force has developed a Professionalism Strategy as part of the Force Plan, which describes how, as individuals and collectively, the force can provide the best service to the public. Regular internal engagement events for both senior managers and all staff have been well received and reinforce a culture of inclusiveness, ethical behaviour and learning where staff flourish and have a sense of purpose.
There is an expectation that management and staff at all levels will lead by example, consistently displaying behaviour in line with the Code of Ethics | College of Policing and ensuring adherence to legal requirements and to all Essex Police policies, procedures and practices. The Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) holds the Police Force to account and has the legal power to hold the Chief Constable to account. Through Prevention, Intelligence, Enforcement, Communication and Engagement, Essex Police is committed to making sure the opportunity for corruption is reduced to the lowest possible risk. Where corruption is identified the organisation will deal with it proportionately and effectively. Please follow the following links to data available
Data is regularly published via quarterly reports including strand splits and summary of outcomes , please click on the following link: Conduct & Professional Standards - Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner (pfcc.police.uk)
Misconduct hearings and upcoming hearing: https://www.essex.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/mis/misconduct-hearings/
In respect of violence against women girls (VAWG), the PFCC have been working with the National VAWG multi-agency to analyse our data, the following article provides more context and information
Policing violence against women and girls - National framework for delivery: Year 1 (npcc.police.uk)
FOI Publications: https://www.essex.police.uk/foi-ai/af/accessing-information/published-items?q=misconduct
Additional mandatory referrals and requested reviews can also be viewed via the IOPC web site. Investigations | Independent Office for Police Conduct Search | Independent Office for Police Conduct
Where an individual has been dismissed, the force will send a report, containing information set out in Regulations, to the College of Policing who will then update the barred list with those details. The same process will be used for the advisory list.
The College will make decisions on whether it is appropriate to publish the information on the barred list, taking into account national security, other ongoing investigations and any significant harm which may be caused to the individual or others. In the vast majority of cases, we expect that the information will be published. Barred list | College of Policing