1,000 complaints by police against police

POLICE officers in London made more than 1,000 allegations of misconduct and corruption against their colleagues last year.

The figures, obtained by the Evening Standard, reveal that under half of all the 1,186 complaints made during 2007/2008 were upheld and 127 are still being investigated.

There were 56 allegations of rudeness and intolerance on duty; 25 of mishandling of property; 41 of oppressive conduct and harassment; 112 about officers flouting traffic rules and 386 of "other neglect or failure in duty".

The most serious allegations included 129 of assault, 19 of sexual assault and 60 of corruption. Sixty reports related to claims of perjury or irregularities in evidence. Details of the allegations were not revealed by the Met but most of the cases resulted in minor sanctions. A total of 399 allegations led to written warnings and 46 to words of advice.

However, 74 officers faced misconduct hearings and these resulted in three officers being sacked and nine others being required to resign.

Two of the officers were sacked for sex attacks and the third for corruption. The nine required to resign were guilty of a range of misconduct ranging from corruption to "sexual conduct". A further 39 officers resigned or retired as a result of unknown complaints made against them.

The Met said the number of complaints made by officers against colleagues had fallen slightly in recent years.

A spokeswoman added that as there were 32,000 police officers in London the number of complaints was relatively small. She pointed out that 417 of the claims were rejected.

The Met has encouraged officers to report on their colleagues in an effort to combat corruption. But concerns remain that officers have been allowed to resign or been sacked for serious offences rather than prosecuted.

Peter Smyth, the chairman of the Met Police Federation, said: "It is encouraging that officers have faith in the system and feel able to report these matters without fear of being ostracised by colleagues but looking at the sanctions then it would appear that the majority tend to be of a fairly minor nature."

A Met spokeswoman said: "It is the responsibility of all employees to report any suspected wrongdoing within the organisation and the Met encourages them to do so.

"Officers can report suspected misconduct through a large number of channels, including an option to do so anonymously. The Met expects its staff to behave with the utmost integrity at all times."

It emerged last month that two women constables - Julie Facey and Paula Church - are suing the Met for £1 million each over sexual assault and harassment allegations involving three male officers over two years.

They claimed they were groped, pestered for sex and subjected to obscene remarks. They also alleged that senior officers at Scotland Yard put pressure on them not to bring charges.

Pc Church, 35, of Essex, claims that Pc Paul Leggatt repeatedly groped her in a police station and pestered her to perform sexual acts. He was sacked last November.

The Met and the male officers deny the claims, which are due to be heard at an employment tribunal this year.