Almost 100 GMP officers under investigation for sexual misconduct

Almost 100 police officers in Greater Manchester are under investigation for sexual misconduct, representing around 1% of the force.

GMP is investigating 82 officers for sexual offences or misconduct with investigations for a further 16 concluded and the officers currently awaiting a misconduct panel hearing.

The figures were revealed by Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor Kate Green at a police, fire and crime panel on Thursday (26 January). It comes a week after former armed officer David Carrick – who admitted to 49 offences including 24 counts of rape – was sacked from the Metropolitan Police.

The new deputy mayor said GMP is ‘very committed’ to openness and wants to assure the public that police officers who are found to have abused their position will be ‘rooted out’ from the force.

She said: “This is a huge issue for all police forces – including Greater Manchester Police – in relation to public trust.

“That’s why immediately after we knew about the Carrick conviction, I asked for a report on the sexual misconduct cases that are current in GMP so that the mayor and I could assure ourselves of the scale of what we face and the action that is being taken.

“We know that the vast, vast majority of our officers do a decent and fine job in protecting the public and they really share the anger that we will all feel at the conduct of a minority of their colleagues that bring that trust into question.”

Councillors on the panel were told that all police forces are now required to check every police officer against the national database, revist any allegations that may need further investigation and also revist all vetting decisions.

Chief constable Stephen Watson said that the recent increase in police officers has already resulted in some ‘resourcing issues’ within the vetting unit at GMP.

He said the new requirements are likely to bring further pressure on the unit. However, he added: “The assurance that I can give you is that however difficult it is, we will fully comply with everything that is asked of the force.

“We will do so expeditiously and if we have to find additional resources we will find those additional resources because it is so important for the public.”

Dismissals for sexual offences or misconduct have more than doubled in the last twelve months. In 2020, one officer was dismissed, but in 2021 there were 5 and in 2022, 12 officers were dismissed for sexual offences or misconduct.

Commenting outside of the meeting, GMP’s deputy chief constable Terry Woods said: “We treat all allegations of sexual misconduct by officers extremely seriously. Where people believe officers have acted wrongly, I encourage them to make a complaint and assure them that all complaints are ethically recorded, fully assessed, and investigated objectively.”

Complaints can be reported to GMP’s Professional Standards Branch online by visiting gmp.police.uk. Members of the public can report anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers online at crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.

Police employees can report anonymously via the Police Integrity Line online at theiline.co.uk or by calling 0800 111 4444.

Joseph Timan, Local Democracy Reporting Service