The broadcaster said that it had submitted freedom of information requests to the country's 45 territorial police forces, including the British Transport Police and the Ministry of Defence Police. However, only 16 forces agreed to disclose employees' criminal records, the broadcaster said, suggesting this indicates that the actual number of convictions is higher. Many of the territorial offices claimed that retrieving such information entails high costs.
Notably, the Metropolitan Police, Police Scotland, Greater Manchester Police, and Merseyside Police refused to provide the information.
Sky News revealed that 99 serving officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland had criminal convictions, including for death by careless driving, common assault, harassment, and being drunk in charge of a firearm.
North Wales Police reported that 20 police officers and five PCSOs were found guilty of crimes involving assault, drug possession, and cruelty to animals. Representatives of the Kent Police said that 22 serving officers had convictions for offences including common assault, criminal damage, and drink driving.