What would you say attracts somebody to be a police officer? Some would say the satisfaction and fulfilment of helping others in need. However, I know that that isn’t the case for everyone who takes their oath on their “pass out” day.
Here are just some of the horrifying submissions about police staff behaviour that I have received from their colleagues in the last few weeks at Speak Up Now UK, the organisation I founded to spotlight misconduct in the UK’s public and emergency services.
“Officers sniffing victims’ knickers in the evidence room…” one Met Police employee wrote. From another: “I overheard a missing person detective wish a young missing teenager would kill himself so they wouldn’t have to keep looking for him.”
An employee from an unspecified force said: “I reported my colleague for following me home but they didn’t take that seriously because it has to happen multiple times for them to.”
A Met Police officer also wrote to me that a fellow officer had been forbidden from being left on his own with any women because he was being investigated for two sexual assaults on colleagues at a separate force.
The officer added that the colleague “regularly gets posted with female PCs, who feel uncomfortable being with him. He has made a number of comments to officers that make them feel uncomfortable, including details of his most recent sexual encounters with an officer who had only recently joined the team”. The officer added that colleagues had spoken to superiors about their concerns but these have all been “widely ignored”.
An employee at Avon and Somerset Police wrote in about their experience reporting a senior officer from another force for drink-driving while armed: “I believed this was the right thing to do, but instead of being supported, I faced escalating reprisals,” they said.
“I have submitted multiple grievances detailing whistleblowing detriment, disability discrimination, and procedural failings, yet none have been properly addressed. This ongoing treatment has devastated my career, finances, and mental health.”
Such an experience is very familiar to me. I blew the whistle on serious misconduct at the Met Police, much to my disadvantage. I was given the runaround for 18 months trying to have my concerns heard and, in the end, I left the force, my faith in it shattered.
I had worked in the Met Police for just under five years as a communications officer, which meant answering 999 calls and running the officer radio channels. As well as misconduct at my level, I also witnessed failures from those at the top who did not take the misconduct seriously. All this is why I created Speak Up Now UK, to provide a safe space for employees to share their experiences of being let down by the systems that are there to “protect us”.
The organisation is open to all emergency and public service employees – and I am seeing a steady stream of testimonies from beyond the police world. An NHS worker told me: “I disclosed repeated sexist behaviour by my male manager to his boss, and she responded by using her position to make my working life intolerable. She weaponised the fact that I had taken leave for a health condition and shamed me for ‘letting the whole team down’ by being on sick leave. She yelled at me in meetings. The male manager showed up at my home address twice. HR enabled their behaviour. Eventually, I resigned.”
A firefighter in the north of England submitted this: “I have just learnt in the last week that a colleague I put in a grievance about who was sacked last year by North Yorkshire Fire service for bullying and harassment has been reinstated by the deputy mayor on appeal. I will have to leave my job if he returns.”
By collecting these submissions and publishing them anonymously, I hope to create data that shows our services are not meeting their promises regarding work practices within organisations, resulting in good staff leaving and bad ones staying. They acknowledge that a toxic and harmful culture needs to be eradicated from public services and that reform will happen, but how long are we supposed to wait until something is done? Why are we settling for empty promises and “targets” from these institutions? Why is no one holding them accountable when they fail to meet their promises?
The Metropolitan Police officer who wrote to me about their new colleague not being allowed alone with women also said that, in the same week as colleagues were telling managers about their upset at working with the officer who was under investigation, they had to endure hours of “New Met for London” training, in which they were told to have the courage to speak up, “knowing that in reality their concerns go widely ignored”.
I believe that this platform will give many who have been afraid to speak out the strength and support to talk further about their experiences, and not let misconduct go unchecked. They will see that they are not alone in their experiences, which can have serious consequences. One Met Police worker told us that they were “bullied because of my disability to the point I wanted to take my own life. It was all put down to ‘banter’ by senior officers.”
First, Speak Up Now UK aims to ensure that as many public service personnel as possible are aware that the platform exists. Then, from the testimonies, case studies, interviews and data collected, an annual report will be created to deliver to government.
I am also hoping that parliament will review misconduct procedures within the police. I launched a petition to this effect in The Independent in April, as I told my story of working in the Met Police. It has surpassed 40,000 signatures, and I am delivering it to Downing Street on 17 June.
The state sector can function only if staff feel that they can do their jobs without fearing their colleagues. Whistleblowing education should be mandated in public services and emergency services by an external body.
If you know anyone who is currently serving or has served in public or emergency services in the UK, please tell them about Speak Up Now UK. They may have something valuable to share that could help contribute to meaningful change in our society.
