An investigation has shown eight out of ten police employees accused of domestic abuse are still working with their force. They are also less likely to face prosecution.
Freedom of information requests made by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and broadcaster ITV revealed only 36 of the more than 1,300 officers and staff reported for alleged domestic abuse since 2018 have been dismissed while 203 have retired, resigned or left for other reasons.
That represents around 18% of the total reported in the 41 forces which responded to the information requests.
Police employees are also more likely to avoid prosecution, with the Bureau and ITV’s joint investigation finding only 3.4% of the reports led to a conviction. The rate is twice as high for the general public.
Ruth Davison, the CEO of Refuge, commented: “I can’t overstate how serious this is. Domestic abuse is fundamentally about power and control, the abuse of power. And police officers do have power — they’re supposed to use that for our benefit to uphold the law and to keep us safe.”
A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokeswoman said: “Figures such as these will cause concern to victims and we want to assure you that policing is working hard to root out those who display misogynistic characteristics.”
