AVON & Somerset’s top police officer admits she has concerns about how some cops are allowed to continue working for the force, following a damning report into national vetting failures.

A government watchdog last week found that potentially thousands of recruits across the country should have failed crucial checks and concluded a culture of misogyny and predatory behaviour against women was prevalent in many forces.

The report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), ordered after Sarah Everard’s kidnap, rape and murder in March 2021 by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens, did not include Avon & Somerset in its investigation.

But Chief Constable Sarah Crew says that while initial screening for new recruits in the force is “strong”, she is “uncomfortable” with both the appeals process and misconduct hearings when the outcome is not to sack officers but to find a more suitable role where “threat and risk is mitigated”.

HMICFRS, which made 43 recommendations, found many cases where applicants should not have become cops, including those with links to organised crime, along with predatory sex offenders, robbers, drug criminals and domestic abuse perpetrators.

Ms Crew said she had overseen investment in the professional standards, vetting and counter-corruption departments since becoming chief constable a year ago.

“We have increased the size of those teams and we have increased the leadership too,” she said.

“It is worth saying, because we recognise this is not a new challenge, that we know there have been problems that sparked this inspection in the first place, not least the murder of Sarah Everard.

She said vetting processes had been reviewed several times in recent years and that professional standards had found areas for improvement.

“Our initial vetting is strong and we are in a good place with our re-vetting, when officers and staff need to be vetted again later in their career,” the chief constable said.

“There is more to do. There are areas that I have asked to be looked at, [including] the appeals process which is done independent of the team.

“We have conversations as well around situations where we may take someone to a misconduct panel but they are not dismissed by the chair of the panel and they come back into the organisation for us to place somewhere where actually we aren’t comfortable with that person being, and we have to look at roles where threat and risk is mitigated.

“So those are two areas that – if I’m being completely frank and honest – I remain uncomfortable about and we need to do more.”

Ms Crew said she would ensure the force was doing or would do everything recommended in the report and “over and above that if there is anything else we need to do to improve that situation”.