More than 1,000 police officers and staff accused of domestic abuse are still serving in law enforcement, new figures show. Eight out of 10 kept their jobs after the allegations were made, with only a small fraction being disciplined or dismissed.
Freedom of information requests by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that 1,080 out of 1,319 police officers and staff reported for alleged domestic abuse between January 2018 and September 2021 were still working. Just 36 (2.7%) were dismissed, while 203 resigned, retired, or left for other reasons. Disciplinary action was taken against 120 (9.1%).
The conviction rate for domestic abuse among police is 3.4%, lower than the 6.3% rate in the general population. In one case, a Metropolitan police officer allegedly abused his partner, a fellow officer. The victim, using the pseudonym Susie, said she reported him but the Met allowed him to continue working. “They say how much they’re going to support women, and they don’t. That’s a really bitter pill to swallow,” she said.
Ruth Davison, chief executive of Refuge, described the figures as alarming and called for radical culture change across all police forces. “I can’t really overstate how serious this is. Domestic abuse is fundamentally about power and control, the abuse of power. And police officers do have power,” she said.
Action differed between forces. The Met received 398 reports, dismissing nine and leaving 336 still working. Police Scotland dismissed none from 67 reports, while the Police Service of Northern Ireland dismissed one from 52. West Midlands police refused to release data, citing excessive cost.
The findings come amid heightened concern over misogyny in policing following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer in March 2021. An official report also revealed grossly offensive WhatsApp messages about violence against women at Charing Cross police station, leading to the ousting of Met Commissioner Cressida Dick. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said policing is “working hard to root out those who display misogynistic characteristics”.
