‘No problem with police integrity’ says ACPO president

Police integrity is not in question despite a series of recent scandals, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) told the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC).

In the first session of the HASC’s new inquiry into police leadership and standards, which precedes a police leadership seminar in the House of Commons on Monday, Sir Hugh Orde defended the service in the wake of the expanding Hillsborough inquiries and the ‘Pleb-gate’ controversy.

“I don’t think there’s an endemic problem with police integrity,” he said, citing the findings of the Leveson Report, which exonerated the police service of systemic corruption.

Sir Hugh added that only one chief constable, Cleveland Police’s Sean Price, had been dismissed for misconduct in 35 years, while the ten ACPO-rank officers currently under investigation was a small percentage commensurate with other professions.

Acknowledging that “morale in policing has been at an all-time low”, Sir Hugh denied that this was “impacting substantially” on everyday policing work, with falling crime figures and recent crime perception surveys held up as examples of the continued dedication of “the vast majority” of officers.

When questioned on the officers involved in ‘Pleb-gate’, who have been accused of lying in their logbooks over the exchanges with former Chief Whip to the Cabinet Andrew Mitchell, Sir Hugh supported the decision to allow Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers to investigate colleagues.

Sir Hugh stood by his statement issued when the scandal first emerged, which said there should be a “healthy tension” between politicians and police, and dismissed concerns that the public may mistrust police testimony in court.

Sir Hugh pointed to his role in setting up a historic crime unit in his former role at the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as a possible precedent to ensure public trust in dealing with longstanding complaints.

He asked: “Do we need to seriously think about having ring-fenced resources to deal with it?”

Sir Hugh held up the College of Policing, headed by former Hampshire Constabulary chief constable Alex Marshall, as a “huge opportunity” to consistently enforce high standards.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the MPS commissioner, was also invited to appear at the opening hearing, where he defended his handling of ‘Pleb-gate’ and supported the decision to allow the force to investigate its own officers.

Saying “there was no reason for me to doubt what had happened” in the aftermath of Mr Mitchell’s investigations at the time of a BBC interview where he defended the officers’ account of the exchange, Sir Bernard said he had not seen the CCTV footage obtained by Channel 4 News that cast doubt on officers’ testimonies, nor the email from an officer purporting to be a member of the public.

He confirmed 30 MPS officers were taking part in the investigation into the circumstances around the case, with 800 statements having been taken so far, but resisted expressing disappointment regarding alleged wrongdoing. Sir Bernard said he expected a file on the Mitchell investigation to be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service next month.