Police Integrity and Corruption Durham Constabulary
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Police Integrity and Corruption Durham Constabulary November 2014 © HMIC 2014 ISBN: 978-1-78246-581-2 www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic Police Integrity and Corruption – Durham Constabulary 2 Contents To what extent has the force put in place arrangements to ensure its workforce acts with integrity? 4 The force in numbers 7 Introduction 10 What progress has the force made on managing professional and personal relationships with integrity and transparency since HMIC’s December 2012 report? 11 How well does the force proactively look for, and effectively challenge and investigate misconduct and unprofessional behaviour? 14 How well does the force prevent, identify and investigate corruption? 17 Recommendations 19 3 Police Integrity and Corruption – Durham Constabulary To what extent has the force put in place arrangements to ensure its workforce acts with integrity? There is strong and visible leadership from the chief officer team, promoting high standards of ethical and professional behaviour. Training is provided to staff to encourage a climate in which professional behaviour is encouraged and valued. Members of staff feel supported and have the confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour. The constabulary investigates allegations of misconduct and corruption effectively but improvement is needed in managing intelligence to protect the organisation from corruption. The force has made good progress on the recommendations from the 2012 HMIC report. Summary There is strong and visible leadership from the chief officer team, promoting high standards of ethical and professional behaviour. Training is provided to staff to encourage a climate in which professional behaviour is encouraged and valued. Members of staff feel supported and have the confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour. The constabulary investigates allegations of misconduct and corruption effectively but improvement is needed in managing intelligence to protect the organisation from corruption. The force has made good progress on the recommendations from the 2012 HMIC report. The chief constable and deputy chief constable provide clear and effective leadership in promoting professional behaviour. Staff are supported in challenging unprofessional behaviour and have access to confidential reporting systems. Force policies include express reference to integrity matters and these are kept up to date. The workforce receives training about integrity and ethics, some of which is personally led by the deputy chief constable and integrity issues are considered in the context of promotions and specialist posts. The constabulary has identified threats and risks from corruption, and has an effective action plan. Monitoring of force systems is limited, however, the force conducts random drug testing to identify substance abuse. The professional standards department (PSD) and counter- corruption unit investigation (CCIU) staff are trained and effective but there is a need to standardise the way intelligence is managed and to more effectively ensure the security of sensitive operations. 4 To what extent has the force put in place arrangements to ensure its workforce acts with integrity? What progress has What progress has How well How well does the force made the force made in does the force the force prevent, on managing communicating and proactively look identify and professional making sure staff for, and effectively investigate and personal knew about ethical challenge and corruption? relationships and professional investigate with integrity and behaviour to all misconduct and transparency, since staff, including unprofessional HMIC’s December the new Code of behaviour? 2012 report? Ethics? There was one area There is clear Misconduct issues The constabulary has for improvement leadership from the are considered as a counter-corruption from the 2012 report, chief officer team, part of promotion and integrity plan relating to the use of promoting high decisions and during which helps it to social media. Good standards of ethical the selection of staff manage threats to progress has been and professional to specialist posts. the organisation. made in this area. behaviour. All staff working The force has a Force policy has The force has within PSD receive a limited capability to been refreshed and governance good level of training. monitor its systems is awaiting final arrangements in for signs of misuse sign-off before being place to manage Investigations carried but software is being adopted. integrity issues and out by PSD are purchased to address the introduction of the timely. Evidence this. Software has been Code of Ethics but from a dip sample of purchased that will does need to ensure cases demonstrated The force needs to allow monitoring of that this is up to date. a high standard of publish the results the use of social investigation. of its randomised media by members Information is substance misuse of staff. provided to the PSD decisions testing. public about integrity and investigatory matters. procedures are audited to ensure The force has consistency and delivered a good fairness throughout level of training to and to ensure that staff about integrity any learning is related matters. captured. 5 Police Integrity and Corruption – Durham Constabulary What progress has What progress has How well How well does the force made the force made in does the force the force prevent, on managing communicating and proactively look identify and professional making sure staff for, and effectively investigate and personal knew about ethical challenge and corruption? relationships and professional investigate with integrity and behaviour to all misconduct and transparency, since staff, including unprofessional HMIC’s December the new Code of behaviour? 2012 report? Ethics? There is a need to The counter- develop auditing corruption processes to investigation monitor the gifts unit (CCIU) has and hospitality of established ways of chief officers and ensuring access to cross check this additional resources against other related and skills if required. registers or diaries. 6 The force/constabulary in numbers Complaints Total public complaints against officers and staff, 247 12 months to March 2014 Total public complaints against officers and staff, 11.4 12 months to March 2014, per 100 workforce Total public complaints against officers and staff, 15.7 per 100 workforce – England and Wales Conduct Total conduct cases against officers and staff, 22 12 months to March 2014 Total conduct cases against officers and staff, 1.0 12 months to March 2014, per 100 workforce Total conduct cases against officers and staff, 2.6 per 100 workforce – England and Wales 7 Police Integrity and Corruption – Durham Constabulary Business interests Applications in 12 months to March 2014 155 Approvals in 12 months to March 2014 148 Resources Proportion of workforce in PSD/ACU 1.2% Proportion of workforce in PSD/ACU 1.0% – England and Wales Information above is sourced from data collections returned by forces, and therefore may not fully reconcile with inspection findings as detailed in the body of the report. 8 a smallproportioninthe forcehavingtheworkconductedforthem. forces itcangivetheappearanceofalarge proportion intheforceconductingworkand beingemployedinoneforcetoundertaketheworkofanother force.Forthese with staff Someforcessharetheseroles includes civil/legallitigation,vettingandinformation security. The proportion professional standardsoranti-corruptionroles asatthe31March2014. workforcethatworkedin The chartaboveisonlyindicativeoftheproportion offorce’s 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 . 2 6 0 4 4 6 8 0 2 % % % % % % % % % West Midlands E Norfolk and Suffolk n g l P Essex a n r opo d Sussex a n r Beds, Herts and Cambridgeshire d t i on Dyfed-Powys W a l o West Yorkshire e f t s 1 North Yorkshire o % t Leicestershire a l Lincolnshire w o i n r Devon & Cornwall k f o f o South Wales r m r c a Humberside e t i i on Avon & Somerset n PS Hampshire s e D Northumbria c u / A r Metropolitan Police i CU t y South Yorkshire ) a ( i s Dorset n c a l Kent t ud 31 Staffordshire i ng Nottinghamshire M a c r North Wales i v c il h Wiltshire / l e 201 Lancashire ga l 4 Warwickshire and West Mercia li t i Cumbria g a Merseyside t i Gloucestershire on , Durham v e The force/constabularyinnumbers Northamptonshire tt i Greater Manchester ng Derbyshire a nd Surrey Gwent Cleveland London, City of Cheshire Thames Valley 9 Police Integrity and Corruption – Durham Constabulary Introduction During HMIC’s review of police relationships, published in 2011 as Without fear or favour1 we did not find evidence to support previous concerns that inappropriate police relationships represented endemic failings in police integrity. However, HMIC did not give the police service a clean bill of health. We found that few forces were actively aware of, or were managing, issues of police integrity. We also found a wide variation across the service in the levels of understanding of the boundaries in police relationships with others, including the media. Similarly, we found wide variation across the service in the use of checking mechanisms, and governance and oversight of police relationships. During HMIC’s 2012 progress report, Revisiting police relationships2 we found that, while forces had made some progress, particularly with regard to the implementation of processes and policies to manage threats to integrity, more needed to be done. The pace of change also needed to increase, not least to demonstrate to the public that the police