Thames Valley Police says it has sacked 30 officers and staff for sexual misconduct

Thames Valley Police has said it sacked 30 officers and staff for sexual misconduct over a four-and-a-half-year period.

The dismissals came between February 2020 and June 2024, the country’s largest non-metropolitan force said in a new report.

The force, which covers Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, said it was publishing the report to ‘be transparent’ over the reporting and findings of allegations of sexual misconduct by those in its ranks and to ‘improve confidence in reporting these matters’.

It comes as the force has received seen an increase in the number of freedom of information requests for sexual misconduct in relation to complaints made by both members of the public and other police officers and staff against serving police officers.

Between February 2020 and March 2024, Thames Valley Police said it had received a total of 61 public complaints of sexual misconduct with six of these being made in 2024.

A public complaint is defined as: “An expression of dissatisfaction by a member of the public with the service they have received from a police force.”

The number of sexual misconduct conduct cases at the force since February 2020 is 130 with 24 of these investigations commencing in 2024.

Meanwhile, the total number of police officers or staff have been subject to allegations of sexual misconduct over the same period is 216.

This includes 31 police officers and or staff having allegations of sexual misconduct made against them in 2024, according to the report.

Thames Valley Police pointed out that since February 2020, the number of police officers at the force has risen from 4,527 full time equivalent officers to 5,889 as of July this year.

This is a rise of around 30 per cent, while in the same period, the number of police staff has also risen from 3,348 full time equivalent staff to 4,104 – a 23 per cent increase.

The number of officers, former officers, and staff who have been disciplined for sexual misconduct in this period was 48, with 30 being serving officers, six being serving police staff and 12 former officers.

In a statement, the force said: “Whilst the above summary shows as a percentage of police officers and staff, complaints and conduct investigations of sexual misconduct are small, they have increased significantly in 2023, with many of these allegations still being investigated.

“This shows that confidence is starting to increase in the reporting of these allegations. It also shows that Thames Valley Police will take decisive action when sexual misconduct allegations are made.”