Skip to main content

Police Discipline

Volume 300: debated on Friday 7 November 1997

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been (a) cautioned, (b) dismissed and (c) charged for inappropriate behaviour while on duty, listing in each case the (i) rule breached and (ii) police force involved. [14438]

[holding answer 6 November 1997]: The information available, covering the period April 1996 to March 1997, is contained in the table below. Figures relate to disciplinary cases which result in a punishment being awarded—they do not include those in which police officers were charged but found not guilty or the charges not pursued. Information on the rule breached, and whether the offence was committed whilst the officer was on or off duty is not collected centrally.

Most serious punishment awarded as a result of disciplinary proceedings 1996–97
Number of officers
Police forceDismissalCautionOtherTotal
Avon and Somerset0437
Bedfordshire0033
Cambridgeshire1124
Cheshire1225
Cleveland1236
Cumbria0011
Derbyshire0213
Devon and Cornwall031821
Dorset0066
Durham1113
Essex0077
Gloucestershire1045
Greater Manchester01910
Hampshire111012
Hertfordshire0145
Humberside301215
Kent031518
Lancashire0202
Leicestershire0099
Lincolnshire0000
City of London0123
Merseyside021012
Metropolitan Police1286989
Norfolk1258
Northamptonshire0112
Northumbria0358
North Yorkshire1078
Nottinghamshire201315
South Yorkshire3137
Staffordshire0044
Suffolk1034
Surrey1001
Sussex071219
Thames Valley1113
Warwickshire0011
West Mercia0055
West Midlands601521
Most serious punishment awarded as a result of disciplinary proceedings 1996–97
Number of officers
Police forceDismissalCautionOtherTotal
West Yorkshire001313
Wiltshire0000
Dyfed Powys0033
Gwent0044
North Wales0000
South Wales0055
Total3749291377