Angiolini Inquiry update - February 2025

At the earliest opportunity, and by September 2024 at the latest, police forces should ensure that they have a specialist policy on investigating all sexual offences, including so-called ‘non-contact’ offences, such as indecent exposure.

There were initial delays with the development of a policy, as we needed to set up multi-agency processes to review precursor offending and a team to support with the prevention of escalation. The formal policy is now on track.

By September 2024, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, in collaboration with all force vetting units, and building on the results of the recent data-washing exercise, should conduct a review of the circumstances of all allegations of indecent exposure and other sexual offences recorded on the Police National Database and the Police National Computer against serving officers. This is to identify, investigate and ultimately remove those officers found to have committed sexual offences from all police forces.

The force has reviewed all offences of this nature as part of this recommendation and other recommendations from HMICFRS and is satisfied that all allegations of this nature have been dealt with robustly and those serving members of the force have either been dismissed appropriately or been subject to post misconduct vetting reviews.

With immediate effect, the College of Policing, in collaboration with force recruitment, should ensure that every new candidate applying to become a police officer in any police force undergoes an in-person interview and home visit. This should be designed to provide a holistic picture of the candidate and a better understanding of the candidate’s motivations for joining the police and their dedication to serving the public.

In particular, this should include the following:

1. An in-person interview with the candidate to ensure that face-to-face contact is made with the recruiting force before the vetting or onboarding of the candidate is progressed.
2. A visit to the residence of all new candidates. This should be used as another opportunity, in advance of vetting enquiries, to engage with the candidate, relevant family members or other occupants of the residence, wherever possible.
3. An integrity questionnaire, used as part of the in-person home visit, to explore fully the candidate’s personal attitudes and values, including increased scrutiny of the candidate’s motivations and suitability for joining the police.
4. Corresponding guidance and training for home visits must be developed to ensure that the visits will enable a better sense of the candidate’s character, rather than judge living arrangements or socio-economic status.

The force conducts face-to-face interviews with candidates. A national pilot is currently underway regarding home visits, which will be reviewed, and any national approach will be implemented.

By June 2024, the College of Policing, in collaboration with force vetting units, should take further steps to prevent those unsuitable for policing from joining the policing profession. This should include further developing the Vetting Code of Practice, Authorised Professional Practice on Vetting, and other guidance on recruitment and vetting practices in order to prevent those who commit sexually motivated crimes against women and those otherwise unsuitable for policing from holding the office of constable. In particular, recruitment and vetting policy, processes and practices must be developed in the following areas:

1. Applicants should be required to undergo an assessment of their psychological suitability for the role (which is not just a questionnaire).
   
   This is a national workstream, however we attend a six-monthly meeting for updates, and we will look to adopt in line with national recommendations.
   
2. There should be more robust use of the Police National Database during vetting, including as a tool to reveal unreported adverse information about applicants to ensure that potential risks are not missed. In particular, the Database should be used when individuals attempt to move between forces.
   
   All vetting research officers now have a PND licence, have been trained and are using this tool as standard practice.
   
   
3. Any individual identified as having a conviction or caution for a sexual offence should be rejected during police vetting. This should be clearly outlined in the Vetting Code of Practice and reflected in the Authorised Professional Practice on Vetting, which should consider all contact and non-contact sexual offences.
   
   Derbyshire Constabulary complies with this recommendation.
   
   
4. The Authorised Professional Practice on Vetting should be amended to make it clear that military and/or Ministry of Defence checks should be carried out on all applicants who have served as military reservists.
   
   These checks are conducted by Derbyshire Constabulary as part of the vetting process.
   
   
5. There should be a fundamental review of the link between debt, mental health, vulnerability to corruption and suitability to be a police officer, to inform vetting decisions. Detailed consideration should be given to the amount of unsecured personal debt held by officers, and rules should be amended to mandate officers to report any significant changes in debt to vetting teams. In addition, the rules should require applicants and officers to provide further insight into their finances, including any payday loans, when requested during the vetting process.
   
   The vetting process includes detailed questions around finance and debt. The vetting researchers now have the capability for wider research into finance, with the ability for further research around suspicious activity reports.
   
   
6. There should be increased rigour in relation to checks for authorised firearms officers, to ensure that vetting standards are met, as well as the introduction of a psychological assessment and an appropriate process for seeking feedback from supervisors or line managers to determine suitability for the role.
   
   All firearms officers are subject to enhanced vetting, including any adverse information and / or feedback from line managers, and subject to an annual integrity review.
   
   
7. No police officer should be onboarded, even if only for initial training, before all vetting is complete. In addition, each officer’s force vetting should be completed before their National Security Vetting is initiated. All force vetting information should be passed to National Security Vetting officers for consideration
   
   Derbyshire Constabulary follows this process.

By March 2025, the College of Policing, in collaboration with force vetting units, should take steps to improve the quality and consistency of police vetting decision-making. This should include encouraging the use of greater professional rigour and curiosity when investigating lines of enquiry, in order to prevent those who commit sexually motivated crimes against women and those otherwise unsuitable for policing from joining the policing profession. These steps should include the following:

1. Recruiting forces should be able to request that unresolved allegations discovered during vetting processes be reinvestigated.
   
   Vetting officers would have conversations with the officer in the case for any investigations, if appropriate.
   
   
2. In collaboration with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, a national vetting capability should be created, as an advisory function, to provide another layer of confidence in instances where complex vetting investigations and decisions are required. In such cases, forces should approach the national vetting function to seek proposed lines of enquiry and ensure that they are following an agreed, standardised approach when considering complex cases.
   
   This is national work that is ongoing.
3. Consideration should be given during vetting to any information or intelligence about police officers being reported missing, regardless of how quickly such reports were closed.
   
   Any information or intelligence in relation to a missing police officer is discussed on a daily basis within the Professional Standards Directorate (PSD), which includes the vetting manager or supervisor attending.
   
   
4. Forces must ensure that force vetting units are complying with and practising Section 6.2 of the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice on Vetting (2021), which states that force vetting units “must record the results of vetting enquiries; the rationale for refusing, suspending, withdrawing or granting clearance, including with restrictions; and where adverse information has been revealed and considered”. This is to ensure that an audit trail is recorded to give the force confidence in decisions made at the time and to allow future vetting officers to constructively scrutinise vetting enquiries and outcomes.
   
   Derbyshire Constabulary records the results of vetting enquiries, including where vetting has been refused. This was ratified during a recent HMICFRS Integrity Inspection.

With immediate effect, all recruiting forces should have regard to the new Vetting Code of Practice, which requires the parent force to provide all relevant information requested about the transferee to enable an effective assessment of risk by the force conducting a full re-vet of the transferee.

Derbyshire Constabulary complies with this recommendation. This was ratified during a recent HMICFRS Integrity Inspection.

By December 2024, the College of Policing, in collaboration with force vetting and recruitment units, should ensure that information-sharing practices, including data retention policies, are strengthened in order to prevent those who commit sexually motivated crimes against women and those otherwise unsuitable for policing from remaining in, or moving across, the policing profession. In particular, there should be a focus on the following information:

1. Previous failures to achieve vetting should be recorded by all forces and flagged to recruiting forces. This should also trigger a re-vet with the current or recruiting force.
   
   This is recorded by Derbyshire Constabulary both on the vetting systems and as an intelligence item which is added to the Police National Database (PND).
   
   
2. A shared agreement should be made about the quality, relevant and necessary content, and sources of information that will be provided in a reference for a future force, also known as a ‘shared referencing protocol’, with directed questions that must be answered (for example, regarding any past disciplinary or honesty/integrity issues). Information to be shared as part of the protocol should be covered within the relevant forces’ fair processing notices. The protocol should apply to all transfers and applications to police forces from individuals in the uniformed services, including:
   •  the Ministry of Defence (including the Army, the Royal Air Force and       the Royal Navy, as well as their respective reserve forces);
   • fire and rescue services;
   • HM Prison and Probation Service;
   • other police forces
   • relevant government agencies, such as Border Force or Immigration        Enforcement.
   
   This is to improve forces’ access to – and ability to use – the totality of information they hold about officers in order to prevent, detect and deal with those likely to commit offences.
   
   Work continues on a national basis to agree a national protocol for information sharing agreements with all relevant agencies.
3. As per Recommendation 8(b), there should be expanded access to and use of the Police National Database, including as a tool for revealing relevant uninvestigated adverse information about officers.
   
   All Vetting Research Officers now have a PND licence, have undergone appropriate training and are using this to support decision making.
   
   
4. Any adverse information or intelligence (developed or otherwise) should be passed by the current Professional Standards Directorate to the receiving Professional Standards Directorate for any officers transferring. No decisions on their appointment should be made until that intelligence has been reviewed, recorded and closed and the vetting units have had time to consider it. If the recruiting force identifies adverse information as a result of the vetting process, this should be shared with the current force for consideration and potential action.
   
   There are a number of processes in place which ensure this recommendation is met.

With immediate effect, police forces should convey to all existing and prospective officers and staff that they must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances.

The force’s Prevent officer conducts regular training, updates are issued on the force intranet, and this also forms part of the annual Personal Development Review (PDR), which triggers annual integrity vetting reviews with officers.

By December 2024, the College of Policing, in collaboration with all force vetting units, should develop a stronger approach to force vetting aftercare in order to monitor an individual effectively throughout their career with the police and be aware of any change in circumstances as soon as possible to ensure that potential risks/red flags are identified and assessed. In particular, that approach should include the following:

1. Mandatory, randomised re-vetting should be introduced, as an additional layer to standardised vetting periods, for police officers and staff, akin to randomised drug-testing. 15 Executive summary
   
   All officers and staff are vetted when they move roles, and an annual integrity check takes place for all officers and staff.
   
   
2. In addition to police officers and staff being required to declare any material changes in their circumstances within a managed system, such as a human resources system, supervisors, or anyone with concerns relating to behaviour, welfare or performance, should report them to Professional Standards Departments at any point.
   
   This is promoted through the Prevent Officer, which includes access and how to report through the internal integrity line Bad Apple and the Crimestoppers Integrity Line.
   
   
3. Professional Standards Departments should systematically exchange relevant and necessary information with vetting and counter-corruption units to consider information disclosed by any individual, and any action necessary.
   
   See the previous recommendations.

With immediate effect, every police force should commit publicly to being an antisexist, anti-misogynistic, anti-racist organisation in order to address, understand and eradicate sexism, racism and misogyny, contributing to a wider positive culture to remove all forms of discrimination from the profession. This includes properly addressing – and taking steps to root out – so-called ‘banter’ that often veils or excuses malign or toxic behaviour in police ranks.

Derbyshire Constabulary is committed to being an anti-discriminatory force, with positive action taken to address any report where an officer or staff member is found to have breached these standards. The Constabulary has delivered training, introduced an internal online information hub and recruited a Prevent officer to support the delivery of consistent messaging, engagement and training around the expected Standards of Professional Behaviour and Code of Ethics, seeking to promote an inclusive, professional and respectful culture.

With immediate effect, all police forces should take action to understand and confront the barriers that police officers and staff face when reporting sexual offences committed by a person that they work with or in the workplace. This is in order to encourage victims, who are also police officers or police staff, to come forward and submit complaints, as well as to identify and remove those who are not fit for service. To do this, forces should:

1. ensure, when a complaint is made, that sufficient and appropriate resources are dedicated to supporting the complainant, including maintaining anonymity where needed or requested, and ensuring an investigation is carried out as appropriate;
2. address cultural barriers to reporting, such as re-victimising complainants by labelling or treating them as ‘troublemakers’; and
3. provide dedicated reporting processes for women in police forces who experience inappropriate behaviour related to their gender.

The force uses and promotes a variety of reporting mechanisms both confidential and non-confidential. The Crimestoppers Integrity line and the internal Bad Apple reporting channel are available for officers and staff. PSD takes a victim-led approach to investigations and supports those who report as best as possible, in line with their wishes.