Hundreds of police officers are criminals

Hundreds of officers of the state police, here in the UK, or Airstrip 1 if you prefer, are actually themselves criminals, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

So far, 13 police forces across England and Wales have released figures which show that, of those 13 forces, they currently have 164 serving officers who actually have criminal records, for offences including Assualt, Theft, Actual Bodily Harm, Possession of an Offensive Weapon, Drink Driving, Criminal Damage, Affray, Perverting the Course of Justice and Child Porn.

Kent has the highest percentage of police officers with a record. It employs 52 officers with convictions, almost 1.5% of its total force.

In West Yorkshire, 10 of the 12 officers with records have been convicted of assault, all while serving in the force.

74 officers in the Metropolitan police had received either a conviction or a caution, while in Hampshire 30 serving officers have convictions.

One police officer in Lancashire was also given an absolute discharge after being arrested for failing to stop following a road traffic collision.

Lancashire officer Jason Livesey, 33, of Fareham Close, Walton-le-Dale, was locked up for 18 months for assaulting a member of the public with a police baton in Accrington town centre and lying under oath.

PC Paul Thompson, 43, who served as a constable in Lancashire's Central Division, in Preston, later avoided jail after pleading guilty to five counts of making indecent photographs of children. He was given a three-year community rehabilitation order and registered on the sex offenders list for five years.

The figures suggest that among all 51 police forces in England, Scotland and Wales the number of officers with convictions could be as high as 650.