Goof grief - placid plod tops out in the crook poll

[David Guyatt]

The noble nick is knobbled by its own knavery (or, the blue lamp brigade is buggered by its own bust stats):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7936041.stm

Figures expose police convictions



More than 1,000 serving police officers in Britain have criminal convictions, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

More than half of the 1,063 convictions relate to speeding or other motoring offences, 77 officers have convictions for violence and 96 for dishonesty.

The Liberal Democrats, who obtained information from 41 forces, called the figures "staggering".

Police chiefs said each case was assessed on its merits.

The figures cover only those forces in England, Scotland and Wales which responded. The Police Service of Northern Ireland refused to answer the Lib Dems' request for information.

Most recent figures put the number of serving officers in the 51 territorial forces in England, Scotland and Wales at 159,359. This figure does not include the British Transport Police, Ministry of Defence Police and Civil Nuclear Constabulary - which were not covered by the Lib Dems' survey.

Serving officers who are convicted do not face automatic dismissal, but the Association of Chief Police Officers said it was "very rare" for people with convictions to be recruited by the police.

The number of serving officers with convictions includes five who were sacked but then reinstated by the Home Office.

Among others to escape losing their job was a West Midlands Police officer who was convicted of kerb crawling.

Keep jobs

The figures also show that forces serving Durham, Surrey, Dorset, Greater Manchester, Lothian and Borders, and Grampian had a total of 132 serving officers with convictions none was dismissed.

Offences included a serious assault in Durham, four incidents of drug possession in Surrey and two incidents of misconduct in office in Manchester.

The total figure for Britain, which does not include cautions, is likely to be higher because some forces did not provide full details and 10 gave no information at all, said BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw.

The figures showed 210 officers had been dismissed or required to resign in the past five years as a result of criminal convictions.

Of those with convictions for violent offences such as assault, battery and wounding, 77 had kept their jobs, and 45 had been dismissed in the last five years.

There are 96 serving police officers with convictions for offences of dishonesty, including theft, perverting the course of justice, fraud and forgery.

'Bad apples'

Liberal Democrat spokesman Chris Huhne said it was "worrying" that so many police officers with serious convictions had been allowed to keep their jobs.

"It is staggering that so many of the people entrusted to protect us from crime have criminal convictions themselves," he said.

"The public entrust the police with the use of legal force precisely because they are self-disciplined and restrained, which is why anyone convicted of a violent offence should be dismissed."

He added that those convicted of dishonesty could not perform their duties effectively, as they could not be relied upon as a witness.

"Police forces should get tough on bad apples," he added.

Bad apples? Where do we find these dopes?