Statement from Chief Constable Serena Kennedy on national integrity screening project

Read our statement from Chief Constable Serena Kennedy following the publication of the largest integrity screening project undertaken in policing:

Chief Constable Kennedy, who is also the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for Prevention and Senior Responsible Officer for the historical data wash process, said: “The national integrity screening project is the largest ever to be undertaken in policing and complements our current vetting practice through an up-to-date check of the Police National Database (PND).

“In Merseyside a total of 7,190 officers, staff and volunteers were checked through PND.

“The aim was to identify staff where checks indicated potential concerns so they could be further investigated either through our Professional Standards Department or referred to an Appropriate Authority.

“Whilst I am pleased to report that, to date, no individual cases were referred to an Appropriate Authority I am by no means complacent.

“I know nationally there has been a decline in public confidence in policing following high profile cases in which serious offences have been committed by police officers or staff and this work is just one of the steps we are taking in Merseyside to continue to build trust and confidence within the communities we serve.

"It is vital that we do everything we can to protect the vast majority of the workforce who promote and uphold our high values and significant work and subsequent action is continuing to be undertaken across the force to address all the intelligence and information identified and to root out the minority of people who are not fit to work within policing.

"I am committed to creating an environment where people feel confident in reporting issues. It is important that our officers and staff, together with members of the public, feel supported when they come forward and that we offer them easy ways to talk to us about any concerns, such as our Call it Out initiative which encourages our staff to report any behaviour not in line with our values and the Crimestoppers Police Integrity Line.

"In addition, through this work, we have identified learning which we will use to continue to strengthen our stringent processes and procedures across the force.

"All this means people in Merseyside can be confident that the officers who respond to their emergencies, are patrolling in their community to keep people safe and to preventing crime  and are working to put criminals behind bars occurring in the first place are honest, ethical, hardworking people."