Essex Police: 25 cops with criminal record
By Gareth Palmer »
POLICE officers have been recruited in Essex despite having criminal convictions for robbery, drugs and driving offences.
A Freedom of Information request has controversially revealed a total of 25 serving officers in the county have a criminal record.
The force released figures which show 15 of its 3,458 serving officers had convictions before they were recruited.
A further nine were convicted after they signed up while one PC, who has not been named, has convictions before and after he joined the force.
However, Tony Rayner, chairman of the Essex branch of the Police Federation, said the figures were not as bad as they seemed.
He said: “Robbery in particular sounds horrendous, but if a 12-year-old is cautioned for pushing another child and taking a sweet that’s technically robbery.
“This would not be someone who’s held up a bank with a sawn-off shotgun.
“I do not know the individual circumstances of each case, but if Essex Police has looked at them and felt the offence was in the past, and of such a nature it did not prevent the person becoming a police officer, then that’s the decision that has been taken.
“Parliament has not passed laws that say people with criminal convictions cannot become police officers.”
The figures showed one detective constable had been convicted of robbery before he was recruited. Others had been taken on despite convictions for possession of an offensive weapon, possession of cannabis, motoring offences and theft.
Mr Rayner said “there is a presumption that an officer will lose his job” if convicted of an offence.
He added: “These officers will have faced a full tribunal and if they have kept their jobs, that shows there were very special circumstances around the incident.”
Since 2005, five officers have been required to resign after disciplinary hearings. Of these, four were convicted of drink-driving and one of public order and assault.
Southend councillor Ian Robertson, who serves on the Essex Police Authority, said only a very small percentage of officers had convictions.
He added: “I understand some of the offences are quite minor.
“It’s part of life and I’m happy with the overall picture.
“It would be ideal to have none, but in the real world it’s not like that.”
Mr Robertson said the figures could include minor driving offences and he had complete confidence in Essex Police.
He added: “I still believe we have the finest police officers in Britain.
“We’ve got a crackingly good Chief Constable.
“The results show crime generally across the whole of Essex has been falling for the past few years and continues today.
“Overall, the force is doing a damn good job and providing value for money.”
