MORE than four in five formal allegations against North Yorkshire Police officers resulted in no action last year, but the force said it takes misconduct allegations "extremely seriously".
Home Office figures show 740 allegations were made against North Yorkshire Police officers - and were handled under the formal complaints process - in the year to April 2022. Of these, 617, or 83 per cent, resulted in no action being required against the police officers involved.
The data shows five of the allegations were referred to official misconduct proceedings and 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 spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said that the force takes misconduct allegations "extremely seriously" and officers are very aware of the serious damage caused to trust in the police service by recent events in the Metropolitan Police.
These include the case of officer Wayne Couzens, sentenced to a whole-life term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, from York, in 2021 and officer David Carrick, who pleaded guilty to dozens of rape and sexual offences against 12 women committed while he was a serving officer in the Metropolitan Police.
The spokesperson said: "The force has taken a number of measures to improve its already robust vetting process to root out those people who are not fit to serve.
"North Yorkshire Police 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 covers both police officers and police staff."
A recent report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Service following an inspection of vetting, misconduct and misogyny in the police service, highlighted the good work by North Yorkshire Police and recommended that all forces make routine use of the PND.
The police spokesperson added: "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.
"It is important to note the difference between a complaint and misconduct. The definition of a complaint is any dissatisfaction with the police service.
"The 740 allegations relate to a number of different scenarios and there could be more than one complaint relating to one incident and may involve multiple officers.
"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.
"Misconduct is much more serious. It is a breach of the professional standards so serious as to justify disciplinary action."
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