Hundreds of people have claimed they were sexually harassed by male police officers in the past six years, prompting calls from senior officers for outdated and unacceptable behaviour to be rooted out.
A Guardian investigation using freedom of information laws has revealed that more than half of British police forces received almost 450 complaints from staff and members of the public about sexual harassment.
They included accusations against senior detectives and inspectors.
The true number of harassment grievances was likely to be even higher as only 28 out of 43 police forces provided data, with many including the Metropolitan police claiming they were unable to supply information or had failed to respond within the time limit.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for professional ethics, Julian Williams, a chief constable, said sexual harassment must be rooted out.
This behaviour falls short of the high standards set in the code of ethics, which each member of the policing profession is expected to uphold. Where predatory behaviour exists, it requires the strongest response from policing, including the removal of individuals from the service, he said.
One female police officer, speaking anonymously, said: Most female police officers have had an experience of sexual harassment.
We are talking about a whole spectrum of issues, from inappropriate comments or sexism. It’s a problem that won’t go away from this field of work and I am not sure why that is.