§ Lord Dholakiaasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps are being taken to deal with allegations of corruption by police officers. [HL3522]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)Although the vast majority of police officers are honest and dedicated, the Government recognise that the corrupt activities of even a small number of officers can have a corrosive effect on the integrity of the service and how it is perceived by the public. That is why we fully support the proactive approach of Sir Paul Condon and those other chief officers who are seeking to identify officers whose integrity may be in doubt, and to root out those who are corrupt. We also welcome the establishment by the Association of Chief Police Officers of a working group on the prevention of corruption, and look forward to the outcome of continuing work by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary on the wider issue of integrity in the police service.
When standards of police behaviour fall below those which should be tolerated, either because of lapses in integrity or the way in which an officer carries out his or her duty, it is clearly essential that there are effective ways of dealing with that behaviour. That is why we are 216WA introducing new police discipline procedures from April 1999, which will work on the civil standard of proof rather than the criminal standard used at present. There will also be a fast track system of discipline to enable an officer to be removed from the force where there is overwhelming evidence of serious wrongdoing of a criminal nature and it is in the public interest to take action swiftly.