Quote:

---

More than 1,000 police officers are still serving despite criminal convictions including assault, kerb crawling and perverting the course of justice.

There are 77 serving policemen with convictions for violent offences, and 36 with convictions for theft.

Almost one in every 100 policemen has been convicted, many while they were in post.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne, who uncovered the figures with Freedom of Information requests to every force, said the public would be 'staggered' that so many of the people entrusted to protect us from crime have criminal convictions themselves.

'It is even more worrying that so many police officers convicted of serious crimes involving dishonesty or violence have been allowed to keep their jobs,' he said.

Only 210 officers have been dismissed or required to resign in the past five years for further criminal convictions. 'There is a disturbing lack of consistency in how police forces deal with officers who are convicted of crimes,' Mr Huhne added.

The number of police cautions for violent attacks more than doubled from 23,500 in 1998 to 52,300 in 2007. Critics claimed the 'alarming' statistics, which mean that fewer than half of violent offenders are not put before the courts, underlined the 'caution culture' created under Labour.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1161109/On-duty-1-000-police-officers
-guilty-crimes.html

---