More than 700 allegations made against North Yorkshire Police officers last year
New figures have revealed the number of allegations levelled against officers in North Yorkshire Police.
From April 2021 to April 2022 there were 740 public complaint allegations recorded against 352 individual officers.
According to figures from the Home Office, 83 per cent (617) of these allegation resulted in no action being required against the police officers involved.
Five of the allegations were referred to official misconduct proceedings.
Meanwhile, seven were referred to the “reflective practice review process” – when an officer’s behaviour falls short of expectations but does not amount to misconduct.
A forces spokesperson said there were a range of complaints within the 740 recorded: “These complaints range from low level matters such as an officer may not have updated a victim or witness or behaved in a way that the complainant states they were subject of incivility, to more serious allegations such as alleged misuse of police powers or excessive use of force.
“But they are not necessarily matters of misconduct.”
They added: “North Yorkshire Police takes all misconduct allegations extremely seriously and are very aware of the serious damage caused to trust in the police service by recent events in the Metropolitan Police.”
These included Met police officers Wayne Couzens, who was sentenced to a whole-life jail term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard from York; and David Carrick, revealed as a serial rapist.
Pioneering system
North Yorkshire Police has pioneered a new approach to handling complaints which has won praise.
It is one of the few forces that handle complaints independently through the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner’s office to provide an additional level of scrutiny.
The force has recently led a national pilot scheme that checks all vetted staff against the Police National Database (PND) every month.
This aims to ensure that any police contact outside of North Yorkshire is brought to the attention of their vetting unit and professional standards department. This covers both police officers and police staff.
A recent report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Service highlighted the good work by North Yorkshire Police and recommended that all forces make routine use of the PND.
It was announced this week that all forces in England and Wales will be adopting this approach.
The The vast majority of our officers and staff are honest, hardworking and act with integrity. But we are not complacent and know that there will be a number within our force who are not. When misconduct is found, we will take action.
“We encourage anyone who has any concerns about an officer or staff member they have come into contact with, to please report it to us.North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “