THE reputation of the British police has taken a bit of a battering in recent months, what with the Plebgate scandal, the revelations over Hillsborough, and questions over the accuracy of crime statistics.

Now come further questions about police integrity – and this time they relate to police in our own area, as well as across the rest of the country.

New figures reveal that no fewer than 80 police officers and police civilian staff in North Yorkshire have had to be disciplined for misusing confidential and personal information on police databases for their own ends.

A further 70 officers and civilian staff in Humberside have had to be disciplined.

Those taken to task in North Yorkshire have included four inspectors or chief inspectors, seven sergeants and 31 constables.

Three police staff have had to be dismissed, while eight resigned. It was only last year that North Yorkshire officer Matthew Fisher, from Selby, was jailed for assaulting two women after using the police national computer to look up their details.

These latest offences, thankfully, do not seem to be quite such serious breaches of privacy, or presumably there would have been more criminal prosecutions.

We don’t know the full details. But nationally, according to the Information Commissioner’s office, police officers have been disciplined for things such as snooping on their children and ex-wives.

Criminal prosecutions may not be merited. But these are still fundamental breaches of trust by men and women who are supposed to be upholding the law. We hope that the exposure of the officers and civilian staff involved will send a very strong message that this kind of behaviour is absolutely not acceptable.