More than one in two cops are bullied Bobbies

MORE than half of police officers and staff have suffered bullying in their forces – and more than a quarter face bullying from colleagues, a survey has revealed.

Only 47 per cent of officers 16,300 officers questioned from the ranks of constable to chief superintendent said they never suffered bullying. The revelations come from Lord Stevens’ Commission on the Future of Policing, which is set to publish its full findings on October 28.

Chris Gregg, from the commission, told PoliceOracle.com: “A third of officers and staff said they had been bullied, and are still experiencing harassment, because of gender, age or ethnicity.”

Professor Jennifer Brown, commission deputy chair, said the proportion of officers reporting bullying correlated with the number of force complaints per head of population in 2010/11.

She said: “The association between bullying and complaints was positive (and statistically significant), suggesting that forces that allow their staff to be treated badly also garner more complaints from the public.

“We also found a similar statistically significant relationship between the number of public complaints and how fair the internal processes of forces were perceived to be.”

Mr Gregg, a former head of West Yorkshire CID, added: “We also found that staff who feel they are being fairly treated by their organisation get less complaints – that is good.

“Public confidence is related to officer behaviour.”

The research dealt with bullying as a whole in the service and did not seek to specify which groups of employees had been identified as the perpetrators.

Prof Brown said this could be addressed in a further survey if deemed necessary.

The research was carried out last year and follows earlier revelations, revealed by the same Commission, that 56 per cent of all officers were considering leaving the service.

Lord Stevens’ Commission on the Future of Policing will deliver recommendations “to help the service meet the challenges of the future during austerity – in relation to better management structures, practice, keeping the public trust and police governance.”

It is likely to help form the Labour Party’s policies on policing going into the next general election.