Concerns raised by Police Fed Chair over new officer vetting rules
Officers could be automatically fired for failing background checks under new legislation
The chair of Wiltshire's Police Federation has raised concerns over new police vetting rules.
Under new regulations, which come into force next month, officers who fail background checks can be automatically dismissed.
The new rules are an attempt to boost confidence in policing across the nation.
Chair of the Police Federation in Wiltshire, Phil Matthews-Dawson, told Greatest Hits Radio that should an officer require re-vetting, they could lose their job and not know why.
"It's always been the case that you could be re-vetted, but there's never been in legislation, a proper exit for a police officer under the vetting rules. It would have to be done a different way," he said.
Phil said we must be asking if the new process is fair.
He said: "When you're talking about vetting, you might be talking about issues that are protected under GDPR and things we've had officers that have had their vetting revoked, that have never been given a full explanation as to why that vetting has been revoked because GDP are prevents us talking about other people that might be involved in that decision."
He added that he feels it gives Chief's a little bit too much power in removing people.
Misconduct process must still be followed
Phil stressed that police officers are human and that mistakes will be made.
He told us: "We deal with humans, police officers are human, mistakes happen.
"In a 30 year career, you're always going to get something wrong."
And while he said he was happy to walk anyone not worthy of being part of Wiltshire Police Force out of the building, Phil said he's worried that Chiefs could take advantage of these rules to dismiss officers.
Performance or misconduct have always been methods to trigger an officers departure from the Force, where they would go through a proper hearing.
Phil said: "We now have the ability to do is to put somebody through a proper hearing under an allegation that may have been made.
"Officers get re-vetted naturally after any misconduct process and what could happen then is they're removed via vetting, giving the chief officers two bites of that cherry in order to satisfy what they believe to be the public opinion, that officers that shouldn't be in policing are being removed."
Phil insisted that the conduct regulations that were established in 2020 were geared around learning.
"Whilst there's a sanction and an outcome for misconduct, there should be learning available and what this vetting regulations now do is allow chief officers to have that second bite, if they didn't get the officer exited via the misconduct routes, remove their vetting and exit them via a vetting route instead," he said.
Phil added: "What needs to happen is there needs to be exited via a proper and fair tribunal process, not, by what some would consider a loophole, to say, actually we'll just take the vetting away if we're not successful at hearings."
Wiltshire Force determined to uphold high working standards
In a statement on behalf of Wiltshire Police, DCC Mark Cooper said, “Our officers and staff should uphold the highest standards of professional behaviour, honesty and integrity.
"These new regulations will mean that there will be a clear route of action for anyone who has their vetting revoked. This could be for a number of reasons such as new intelligence/information coming to light, criminal convictions/cautions, or as a result of a review following misconduct proceedings.
“Whilst we know the vast majority of police officers and staff adhere to the standards rightly expected of them, there are a small minority who do not. These new regulations are important as we continue to work on restoring public trust in policing.”