Thirty-two Nottinghamshire Police officers dismissed in last two years following misconduct hearings

The force says most were for “honesty and integrity matters”, adding the dismissals show it takes incidents seriously.

Twelve dismissal sanctions were issued after misconduct hearings from April 1, 2021-March 31, 2022.

A further 20 dismissals were issued in the previous year.

It follows an inspection of all constabularies’ vetting and misconduct processes by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.

Forty-three recommendations for improvements were found. They aimed to introduce more pre-employment checks on all new officers entering the police.

Forces were also asked to improve processes for vetting and corruption and improve the quality and consistency of vetting.

Other recommendations aimed to improve the understanding of misogynistic and predatory behaviour relating to policing, the way police collect intelligence and investigate misconduct.

Nottinghamshire Police was rated good following an inspection in March 2022.

It found many of the recommendations were already existing practice at the force, including teams working together when adverse information about a candidate is found.

The inspection found decisions on vetting were met with “detailed rationale”, while professional standards and intelligence were properly logged.

One area for improvement was found, relating to analysing vetting decision data for “disproportionality”.

Inspectors found there was no “meaningful analysis” on vetting for applicants with protected characteristics.

However, the force’s vetting unit will transfer to a new system next month, which has a mandatory field for this to “allow for effective analysis moving forward”.

Deputy Chief Constable Steve Cooper said: “Nottinghamshire Police take every complaint seriously.

“It was reassuring the inspectorate rated us as ‘good’, with only one area for improvement, which we have now addressed.

“That said, we are not complacent and will continually look to improve the service we offer.

“The force regularly rejects applicants and dismisses those staff who badly let down the public and their colleagues.

“From April 2021 to March 2022, the force dismissed 12 police officers following misconduct hearings.

“The majority are for honesty and integrity matters. This shows how seriously we take any incidents that affect our reputation.

“The public can have trust and confidence in the processes and procedures we have in force, to ensure our officers and staff meet the high standards expected of them.”