Most Investigations of Racial Discrimination by UK Police Dropped

MOSCOW, January 30 (Sputnik) — Some eight out of ten investigations of racial discrimination by UK police end in no further action taken, the national police watchdog said in a report Friday.

According to the report, 816 of 1,043 racial discrimination investigations ended in no further action, with only six police officers dismissed in the 12 months up to March 2014.

“The data suggest that racial discrimination investigations are more likely to result in no further action than other types of investigation,” the report, posted on the UK Justice Inspectorates (HMIC) website, said.

Information disclosure, theft, fraud and dishonesty were among other categories of investigations with a high outcome of no further action taken on police officers. But, unlike racial discrimination, almost 30 officers were dismissed for information disclosure and more than 40 for theft, fraud and dishonesty in the year to March 2014.

The total number of cases with no further action taken dropped to 2,812 compared to 2,891 the previous 12 months up to March 2013.

“Police forces have made great strides in tackling misconduct and corruption and now they need to continue that work to focus on proactive, prevention work,” head of the investigation Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, was quoted as saying in a press release.

Cunningham stated that UK police need to demonstrate a culture of “zero tolerance” to corruption and misconduct, adding that consistency in how misconduct is addressed is required.