Angiolini Inquiry update - November 2024
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At the end of February, Lady Elish Angiolini published the findings of Part 1 of her two-year inquiry which looked into how off-duty Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens was able to abduct, rape and murder Sarah Everard.
This report provided a detailed look at the failings of the Metropolitan Police, Kent Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, and the lessons which can be drawn from this that can be applied right across policing.
The shock that the public felt when the person responsible for the brutal death of Sarah was confirmed to be a police officer was profound, and has shaken public trust and confidence in policing at its foundations. This was magnified further when we learned that he used the trust she placed in him as a police officer in order to carry out her murder.
In police circles we often hear it said that Wayne Couzens wasn't one of us. The reality is that he was. He swore an oath. He wore the uniform. And he was warranted with police powers. We cannot change what has gone before but our focus must be on ensuring anyone who is not committed to operating at the highest standards of police conduct has no place in North Yorkshire Police. This means we need to apply robust vetting, cultivate an upstander culture and be transparent and accountable to the public in everything that we do. Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets. We need to be working to gain the trust of the public in everything that we do every day, drop by drop.
The Angiolini report makes 16 recommendations to support this. The vast majority of these are for the Home Office, the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council and we will support these at a national level. But there are other recommendations which are force-specific. We wholly accept these recommendations and work is already well underway to deliver them.
At the earliest opportunity, and by September 2024 at the latest, police forces should ensure that they have a specialist policy on investigating all sexual offences, including so-called ‘non-contact’ offences, such as indecent exposure.
North Yorkshire Police has developed its policy on non-contact sexual offences and published it on its website. The requirement by police forces is to ensure that the response to any report of non-contact offences is treated with the same seriousness as a contact offence. Non-contact offences are wide ranging and can cover voyeurism, indecent exposure, outraging public decency, unsolicited sending of explicit images or messages, upskirting, image-based abuse, all of which can, and do impact on a person’s right to privacy and dignity. These types of offences can be an indicator of a pattern of behaviour or an escalation in behaviour by an individual. The risk associated with this type of offending should not be under-estimated and should be considered in all offences reported to the police either as a crime or intelligence and acted upon.
With immediate effect, all recruiting forces should have regard to the new Vetting Code of Practice, which requires the parent force to provide all relevant information requested about the transferee to enable an effective assessment of risk by the force conducting a full re-vet of the transferee.
In the current Authorised Professional Practice (APP) force vetting managers have the choice regarding revetting of transferees from other forces. North Yorkshire Police have re-vetted transferees since 2010. We provide receiving forces with all relevant information requested about a transferee allowing them to make a recruitment decision based on a full assessment of the risk.
With immediate effect, police forces should convey to all existing and prospective officers and staff that they must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances.
Our Deputy Chief Constable, Scott Bisset, who is directly responsible for force standards has informed all employees:
“Lady Angiolini specifically references the need for anyone working in policing, whether as an officer or staff, to be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability by members of the public. She asked that you be reminded of this and the impact this may have on your privacy and private life. In some circumstances this may mean your right to privacy is fettered. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, recruitment, vetting, aftercare, transfer, promotion, a role change or returning to policing and maintaining standards.
“Lady Angiolini recommends this to ensure we are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to us and the standards of professional behaviour we swear to uphold as police officers.
“An endeavour I'm sure we all support.”
With immediate effect, every police force should commit publicly to being an antisexist, anti-misogynistic, anti-racist organisation in order to address, understand and eradicate sexism, racism and misogyny, contributing to a wider positive culture to remove all forms of discrimination from the profession. This includes properly addressing – and taking steps to root out – so-called ‘banter’ that often veils or excuses malign or toxic behaviour in police ranks.
The force launched its latest Police Race Action Plan in October 2024 which details the force’s ambition to be an anti-racist organisation. We are currently piloting a Cultural Change programme which positively addresses sexist, misogynistic and racist language and behaviour in our workplace. The Chief Constable also stated:
“I am committed to ensuring that North Yorkshire Police is an inclusive workplace where everyone feels safe, valued, and has a sense of belonging. This means that we are anti-discriminatory in our approach, challenge inappropriate behaviour whenever we encounter it, and create an environment where people feel confident to report issues of concern. It is vital that all of us are ‘upstanders’ rather than ‘bystanders’ and become the allies of colleagues who are different than ourselves.
“Sexism, misogyny, racist language and inappropriate sexualised behaviour are present in society, and it is naïve to think that such behaviours do not exist within North Yorkshire Police. This is totally unacceptable and I will not tolerate it. We cannot expect to keep our communities safe if we cannot protect our colleagues. I want to make sure everyone feels safe, supported and valued in North Yorkshire Police.”
With immediate effect, all police forces should take action to understand and confront the barriers that police officers and staff face when reporting sexual offences committed by a person that they work with or in the workplace. This is in order to encourage victims, who are also police officers or police staff, to come forward and submit complaints, as well as to identify and remove those who are not fit for service.
North Yorkshire Police NYP have invested additional resources into its Professional Standards Department (PSD) in the past 12 months. This has provided sufficient resources and a good level of skill and understanding of the support required for every complainant from within the force on a case-by-case basis.
We have multiple reporting lines available to all officers and staff. Our 'Call it Out' campaign is promoted across police estate and in the prevention / early intervention work driven by PSD. The amount of reporting lines available was also subject to NYP Integrity Inspection in July 2024 and while we await the draft report it is noted that we are in the first group of forces to have the new Integrity Inspection.
The force will be conducting a survey of its women employees to better understand their experience of inappropriate or sexist behaviour in the workplace.