Police ignore calls to sack officers with criminal convictions in Hertfordshire

CALLS for Hertfordshire police officers, who have been found guilty of criminal offences while serving, to be sacked have fallen on deaf ears.

Coppers with convictions: our web poll

On January 11 the WHT revealed how officers at Hertfordshire Constabulary had been convicted of criminal and traffic offences, including drink-driving, speeding, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and dangerous driving.

Despite 11 officers being guilty of various offences none have been sacked.

We ran a poll on our website which showed 78 per cent backed sacking officers caught breaking the law.

And Welwyn Hatfield mayor Carl Storer, himself a former police officer, told the WHT: “In my day they would have been disciplined and removed from the police force.”

Mayor Carl Storer

Cllr Storer said: “It’s common sense you want police to be good upstanding people.”

But he said cases should be judged ‘individually’ and suspected human rights legislation had left forces hamstrung, and unable to drum criminal coppers out of the force.

Hatfield resident Jonathan Morris commented on our web story and asked: “If I get stopped by the police in the future, can I ask for a PNC [Police National Computer] check first?”

And another reader said police were “above the law and look after their own”.

Despite the outcry, Hertfordshire Constabulary refused to comment on why none of the offending officers have been fired.

A spokeswoman said they “would not be commenting any further on this”.

A previous police statement had said the constabulary “takes robust action when dealing with police officers or staff who break the law.”