Action is being taken by Avon and Somerset Police to tackle sexual misconduct and abuse of position for sexual purposes within its ranks. The force has given an update about how it handles the issue following public concern over high profile cases of sexual offending by serving officers in the Metropolitan Police, and recent misconduct cases involving officers from Avon and Somerset.

In a case in December last year, response officer PC Sanjaye Drummond was sacked by the Avon and Somerset force after a misconduct hearing found he had breached professional standards by making sexual comments and touching a female colleague.

The force said a panel found allegations of misconduct and gross misconduct proven against the response officer based at Patchway police station. A statement said the allegations related to inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues while off duty at a social event in December 2021. ​

It was found that Mr Drummond breached standards of professional behaviour amounting to misconduct, by making inappropriate comments of a sexual nature to colleagues.​ He was also found to have breached the standards by inappropriately touching a female colleague over her clothing, amounting to gross misconduct, and barred from policing.​

Earlier in December, former Avon and Somerset police officer DC Scott Burton who sent sexual messages to a child was placed on a barred list preventing him working in policing and other law enforcement agencies again. The force said while off-duty, the former officer sent a number of messages to the child, which included inappropriate and sexualised comments.

The offences were disclosed to Avon and Somerset Police by a third party in June 2021 and an investigation immediately began. In March 2022, DC Burton was charged with an offence of sexual communication with a child under the age of 16, and he appeared in court. Following further direction from the Crown Prosecution Service, DC Burton received a police caution for this offence in September and was put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for two years. The Chief Constable decided at the misconduct hearing he would have been sacked if he had not already resigned.

Last month, David Carrick, 48, was sacked by the Metropolitan Police after admitting dozens of rape and sexual offences against 12 women over two decades. That cases follows the life sentence given in 2021 to Met Police firearms officer Wayne Couzens, who abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in the capital.

Avon and Somerset Police says that next month Dr Fay Sweeting, whose work has focused on sexual misconduct and abuse of position in the police, will deliver a 90-minute lecture to frontline managers at police headquarters. The lecture is set to “focus on the precursory behaviours that preclude sexual violence by officers and the different types of offenders.”

Avon and Somerset Police staff who engage with the public must watch the College of Policing e-learning package on abuse of position for a sexual purpose.

Anonymous reports and other intelligence relating to the conduct of Avon and Somerset officers is collated on a Sexual Misconduct Risk Register.

The Somerset force also has an app and a confidential phone reporting service that can be used by their staff to anonymously report their colleague’s behaviour to the Avon and Somerset’s Professional Standards Department.

The outrage over the David Carrick case prompted the Home Secretary to call for the College of Policing to tighten the statutory code for police vetting.

In a statement, Suellea Braverman said: “We are taking immediate steps to ensure predatory individuals are not only rooted out of the force, but that vetting and standards are strengthened to ensure they cannot join the police in the first place.”

The Home Office is also conducting a national review into the process of police officer dismissals. The four-month review is to “ensure that the process of police dismissals is fair and effective and ensure that the public can be confident that those falling far short of the high standards expected of them can be removed from policing.”

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: “Tackling sexual misconduct and abuse of position for a sexual purpose are priorities for our Professional Standards Department as we fully recognise the damage it does to the public’s trust and confidence in us.”