Officers Can’t Be Dismissed By Removing Vetting

“We cannot have a totally subjective system where an officer could have a false and vexatious complaint made against them, and that be used to dismiss the officer without due and fair process.”

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent was commenting after the High Court ruled that forces could not dismiss officers by removing their vetting clearance.

Steve said: “People are getting this confused and thinking that the Federation is being an apologist for people in the organisation who shouldn’t be there. But it’s not about that. It’s about having proper, fair processes.

“I am very confident that if a person within a police force needs to be vetted out or exit the organisation because they’re corrupt, there are systems in place that will identify that and deal with it.

“What we cannot have is a totally subjective system where someone could have a false and vexatious complaint made against them, and that be used to dismiss that officer without due and fair process.

“In any other organisation outside of policing, that would be unlawful and would be subject to employment tribunals. Our officers are poorly paid and they’re poorly protected by the law. They deserve to have proper protection and fair processes.”