Sacked Northamptonshire Police officers who fall "well below" standards could be stripped of pensions

Northamptonshire's police, fire and crime commissioner has agreed the formal policy
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Sacked police officers found to have fallen “well below” the standard expected could be stripped of their pensions after a plan was given the go-ahead.

Northamptonshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold agreed to introduce “formal policy and procedure” which his office said would “act as a deterrent for [any] criminality” within Northamptonshire Police.

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Currently, legislation allows for Mr Mold and other police and crime commissioners to apply to the Home Secretary for consent to consider the forfeiture of police officers’ pension rights in certain cases.

Northamptonshire's Police commissioner Stephen MoldNorthamptonshire's Police commissioner Stephen Mold
Northamptonshire's Police commissioner Stephen Mold

They include the conviction of officers in certain cases, including treason, those under the Official Secrets Act and other criminal matters.

Mr Mold’s office said the approval to set a formal process for that in Northamptonshire will mean pension funds are “appropriately protected”. It said it will also “reassure the public that [Mr Mold] takes matters such as criminality seriously and will pursue sanctions available”.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he would apply to the Home Secretary to strip disgraced former Met Police officer David Carrick of his £22,000-a-year pension earlier this year.

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Carrick was sacked by the force after he admitted dozens of rapes and sex offences against multiple women. He was jailed for life in February.

Mr Mold said he sought advice from “senior members” of Northamptonshire Police and his internal staff, as well as working with the Superintendents Association and Police Federation representatives, before accepting the policy, which was approved on Friday.

In January, chief constable Nick Adderley said police regulations should be reviewed to make it easier to get rid of incompetent or criminal cops or police staff. “It’s the devil’s own job to get rid of somebody from policing. It cannot be right that you can have people who can play the system…ultimately knowing that they are going to get dismissed or fined or even imprisoned in one recent example but we still have to pay them,” he said.

Northamptonshire Police rejected a Freedom of Information request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) earlier this year into how many officers were or had been investigated for sexual offences, following Carrick’s imprisonment.

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It said while providing a number of the officers “would lead to a better informed general public”, it would “suggest Northamptonshire Police take their responsibility to appropriately handle and manage intelligence…flippantly.”