NINE in 10 formal allegations against Essex Police officers resulted in no misconduct action last year, new figures show.

Home Office figures show 4,453 allegations were made against Essex Police officers and handled under the formal complaints process, in the year to April 2022.

Of these, 4,002, or 90 per cent, resulted in no action being required against the police officers involved.

A further 84 were referred to the reflective practice process, when an officer’s behaviour falls short of expectations, but does not amount to misconduct.

The figures listed cover the total number of allegations, rather than the number of complaints, one complaint could contain several allegations of misconduct.

They do not cover any complaints handled outside of the formal process, where it was felt that a detailed inquiry was not needed.

Across England and Wales as a whole, 87,786 allegations were made against police officers and handled under the formal complaints process in 2021-22.

The majority, at 88 per cent, found no action was required.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: "We take all reports of misconduct extremely seriously and we work both within our own tight processes and the IOPC’s referral criteria to investigate allegations and accurately refer cases to the IOPC if the threshold is met.

"The work our professional standards department (PSD) carries out - and its work alongside the IOPC - means that we are better able to identify officers and staff members who have fallen short of our standards and ensure they are dealt with appropriately and robustly. 

"However, of course, there are occasions where our investigations find officers’ actions have not fallen below our standards and these figures reflect that.

"Also, the police conduct regulations and Home Office Guidance are very strict and state there only needs to be an indication of misconduct for an investigation to take place and the threshold is low, which is very different to the criminal threshold.    

"We have also invested in PSD and a new engagement team is being set up to deliver training and reinforce our standards and values. We also do all we can to give officers and staff the confidence to report matters to us, including an anonymous reporting system.  

"We have a professionalism strategy, which sets our expectations and values in terms of how officers and staff should look, lead, learn, work and behave and this strategy is reinforced through our training to new recruits and also supervisors and managers.  

"As a result of our professionalism behind the scenes we have also stopped scores of people joining us as officers and staff through robust and very effective vetting processes because we can see they do not hold our values. We also re-vet existing colleagues at the appropriate times too."