Report into complaints against Officers of Sexual Misconduct from 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2024
Introduction
Nottinghamshire Police have seen a significant increase in the number of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests for information concerning sexual misconduct allegations in relation to complaints from members of the public and police employees against serving police officers.
This report is designed to provide information and statistics in relation to the reporting and findings of allegations of sexual misconduct to improve confidence in reporting these matters.
The data set in this report is from 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2024.
The term “Sexual Misconduct” referred to is the term applied by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) Data Capture Guidance as any allegation that is categorised as:
| Category / Subcategory | Definition |
|---|---|
| G2 | Abuse of position for sexual purpose |
| G3 | Abuse of position for the purpose of pursuing an inappropriate emotional relationship |
| J1 | Sexual assault |
| J2 | Sexual harassment |
| J3 | Other sexual conduct |
This ensures consistency throughout the police services where sexual misconduct is discussed.
The above categories came into force in February 2020, but the same criteria have been used throughout the time period to ensure consistency.
The IOPC Statutory Guidance on the Police Complaints System Chapters 10 to 13 define when a complaint must be investigated and when a complaint is appropriate for it to be handled ‘otherwise than by investigation’.
When a complaint is handled other than by way of investigation, there are only 3 Outcomes available to the Appropriate Authority. They are:
- Service Acceptable
- Service not acceptable
- Cannot determine if service is acceptable or not
When a complaint is formally investigated there are an additional two outcomes of:
- Case to Answer
- No Case to Answer
Chapter 16 of the Statutory Guidance advises when a complaint is withdrawn.
This report will discuss the number of cases, number of allegations and the number of officers. Whilst this is in accordance with the IOPC Statutory Guidance on Police Complaints it may appear confusing as the numbers may appear skewed, but this is not the case. It is quite common that within 1 complaint there are several different aspects to it and these aspects may then form several allegations against individuals or the organisation. Then each individual allegation may have more than 1 officer involved (e.g., 1 complaint has 5 allegations, and each allegation involves 2 different officers).
There are also 2 strands to the reporting:
- First strand is the number of public complaints received.
- Second strand is the number of conduct investigations conducted, may be a member of the police service (who cannot make a public complaint) or from another avenue other than a public complaint.
All Sexual Misconduct Complaints will fall inside Schedule 3 of the Police Reform Act 2002. This means that the complainant has a right to review by the relevant reviewing body at the end of the investigation.
Executive Summary
The number of police officers has risen from 1,917 full time equivalent (FTE) officers at start of the reporting period, to 2,418 FTE police officers as of the 31st March 2024 This is a rise of 26.1%
The number of police staff has risen from 1,343 full time equivalent staff to 1,512 FTE staff. This is an increase of 12.5%
From 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2024 Nottinghamshire Police have had a total of 40 public complaints of Sexual Misconduct, with 25 of these public complaint cases being made in 2022 and 2023.
The number of sexual misconduct conduct cases since 2017 is 61. Our interpretation is that there is an increase in confidence in the investigation of sexual misconduct allegations, the number of investigations have significantly increased since 2021.
The number of police officers / staff that were / are subject of the allegations of sexual misconduct since 2017 is 107.
The number total number of allegations in this reporting period is 158.
65 Allegations (41%) were finalised as “case to answer”.
47 Allegations (29.7%) were finalised as “no case to answer”.
16 Allegations (10.1%) were finalised as “Service Acceptable”.
13 Allegations (8.8%) were either discontinued or withdrawn.
7 Allegations (4%) are still being investigated.
3 Allegations (1.9%) are classed as “sub judice” (they are linked ongoing criminal investigations).
3 Allegations (1.9%) were dealt with informally under the complaints procedure.
2 Allegations (1.3%) were finalised as service not acceptable.
2 Allegation (1.3%) were finalised as no further action.
The number of officers, former officers and staff who have been formally disciplined and received a sanction, in this period was 18, with 8 being serving officers, 6 former officers, 1 serving police staff and 3 former staff. There have been disciplinary misconduct findings ranging from Written Warnings to Dismissals.
Of these, 5 Serving Officers have been dismissed for allegations relating to Sexual Misconduct. 6 former Officers have been categorised as ‘would have been dismissed if still serving’, and 3 former staff ‘would have been dismissed’. All of these cases resulted in the individual being placed on the College of Policing Barred List.
Of those disciplined, 14 of the 18 officers and staff, committed the sexual misconduct whilst being classed as ‘on duty’.
Whilst the above summary shows as a percentage of police officers and staff, complaints and conduct investigations in relation to sexual misconduct are low they have increased significantly since 2022. This increase in reporting, is believed to demonstrate that confidence is starting to increase in the reporting of these allegations especially internally, and that Nottinghamshire Police will take decisive action when sexual misconduct allegations are made.
Scope
Between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2024, the report will answer the following points:
-
The numbers of Full Time Equivalent Police Officers and Staff for the calendar years 2018-2024.
-
The number of public complaints of sexual misconduct by officers/staff.
-
The number of conduct investigations into sexual misconduct.
-
The number of officers/staff that have been/are being investigated for sexual misconduct.
-
The allegation breakdown.
-
The outcomes breakdown for allegations.
-
The number of officers disciplined and the outcome.
-
The number of police staff disciplined and the outcome – from 01/02/2020 onwards (Prior to 2020 police staff meetings were managed by HR and outcomes were not always recorded on Centurion (data capture tool).
-
Was the officer / staff member classed as “on-duty” at the time of the allegation.
Method
The number of full time equivalent police officers and staff.
| 2017 / 2018 | Full Time Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Officers | 1917.21 |
| PCSO | 185.32 |
| Staff (excludes PCSO) | 1158.29 |
| Total | 3260.82 |
| 2018 / 2019 | Full Time Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Officers | 1935.97 |
| PCSO | 177.42 |
| Staff (excludes PCSO) | 1155.65 |
| Total | 3269.04 |
| 2019 / 2020 | Full Time Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Officers | 2071.51 |
| PCSO | 169.18 |
| Staff (excludes PCSO) | 1189.67 |
| Total | 3430.36 |
| 2020 / 2021 | Full Time Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Officers | 2181.68 |
| PCSO | 153.35 |
| Staff (excludes PCSO) | 1269.96 |
| Total | 3604.99 |
| 2021 / 2022 | Full Time Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Officers | 2344.01 |
| PCSO | 142.86 |
| Staff (excludes PCSO) | 1263.21 |
| Total | 3607.22 |
| 2022 / 2023 | Full Time Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Officers | 2399.88 |
| PCSO | 138.81 |
| Staff (excludes PCSO) | 1309.6 |
| Total | 3848.29 |
| 2023 / 2024 | Full Time Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Officers | 2418.73 |
| PCSO | 157.6 |
| Staff (excludes PCSO) | 1354.55 |
| Total | 3930.88 |
The number of public complaints of sexual misconduct, conduct investigations of sexual misconduct, and the number of officers/staff that have been/are being investigated for sexual misconduct.
| Number | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of public complaints of sexual misconduct by officers/staff | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 7 |
| Number of conduct investigations of sexual misconduct | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 20 | 13 |
| Numbers of officer/staff that have been/are being investigated for sexual misconduct | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 37 | 24 |
Category of Sexual Misconduct allegations made in line with the IOPC Data Capture Guidance.
| Year | Rape | Sexual Assault | Sexual Harassment | Other Sexual Conduct | Abuse of position for sexual purpose | Abuse of position for the purpose of pursuing an inappropriate emotional relationship | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2018 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2019 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2020 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 2021 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 2022 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 50 |
| 2023 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 46 |
| 2024 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 24 |
Outcomes of sexual misconduct allegations in line with the IOPC Data Capture Guidance.
| Year | Withdrawn | Case To Answer | No Case to answer | Still under investigation | Still under investigation but Sub judice | No further action | Dis-continuance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 29 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2023 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 2024 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Year | Resolved | Not resolved & no further action | Service Acceptable | Service not acceptable | Cannot determine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Officers Disciplined for Sexual misconduct that had meetings or proceedings in the year.
| Year | Written Warning | Final Written Warning | Dismissed whilst serving | Would have been dismissed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Police staff Disciplined for sexual misconduct who has meetings in the year.
| Year | Written Warning | Final Written Warning | Dismissed whilst serving | Would have been dismissed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Prior to 2020 police staff meetings were managed by HR and outcomes were not recorded on Centurion (data capture tool).
Of officers/staff Disciplined for Sexual misconduct the number on/off duty.
| Year | On duty | Off duty |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | 1 |
PDF available on request.