Drop in police officers facing misconduct cases in 2024

There was one allegation of gross misconduct and one complaint of misconduct put before disciplinary panels last year.

Prior to last year, the number of misconduct and gross misconduct cases had been steadily rising since the pandemic, with five in each of 2022 and 2023.

‘I hope the data we are publishing demonstrates that serious wrongdoing in the police is a rare occurrence,’ said Home Affairs president Rob Prow.

‘These numbers demonstrate that the community should have confidence in the police force and the fact that, where an officer’s conduct falls below the high standards expected of officers, these matters are dealt with.’

The committee also said that six police officers had been charged by the police for criminal offences over the past 10 years and that none convicted of an offence amounting to gross misconduct had continued in their role as a police officer.

Home Affairs has been battling criticism of the force after a series of complainants pursued court cases against officers last year.

Some of those cases have led to financial settlements, but attempts to discover the amounts paid out to complainants have so far been largely unsuccessful.

The committee has also pledged to carry out a comprehensive review of the island’s police complaints law.

‘I urge the community to continue to have confidence in the police to discharge their duties well while this review is done as I know officers continue to work very hard to keep this Bailiwick safe and secure,’ said Deputy Prow.

‘This is evidenced through the approximately 13,700 calls for assistance from the public recorded annually by JESSC.

‘It remains the case that the nature of policing means officers will regularly engage with individuals who find themselves in very stressful situations, whether because of something that has been done to them or because of a situation of their own making. Some of these individuals will always feel aggrieved about how they have been dealt with.

‘It is the responsibility of police officers to respond to these challenging interactions with professionalism, respect and most importantly in a way that protects the wider community. The community, and the committee, rightly expect these high standards from the police.’

Deputy Prow said that reviewing and reforming the police complaints law to make it ‘suitable and fair to all parties’ would be a ‘key cornerstone’ of maintaining public confidence in policing and that his committee wanted to complete the project before the end of the current States term in June.

‘The new chief of police [Damian Kitchen] has given us his full support for the review and has made it plain that he will not accept wrongdoing now, or ever,’ he said.

In response to another freedom of information request, Home Affairs published information about improvements in re-offending rates, which the Guernsey Press reported on in October.

However, the committee used exemptions in the States’ freedom of information code to refuse to answer other freedom of information requests which it said ‘asked for specific information relating to complaints’.