police who ignored a 17 y/o girl with mental health problems when she reported a rape should not have been given the option to retire on their pensions

[agentEgypt]

This is the story about Hampshire police who ignored this 17 year old girl when she tried to report a rape, and instead said they would charge her for perverting the course of justice and this made her self harm more and attempt suicide.

However she did get legal help and eventually they settled out of court. However 4 of the cops involved were given the option yo retire!

IMO they should have not been given this option, legally charged and have their entire pension removed.

[Anniegetyourgun]

A propos of nothing in particular, it's bad form to raise someone's posting history on a different thread, isn't it?

[Anniegetyourgun]

I was going to, but I didn't, because of it being bad form, innit.

[Bodicea]

I don't think they should be allowed the option of early retirement but to take their pension pot off them that they have pad into is absolutely ridiculous. One mistake at work and everything you have paid in is wiped out!!!! People can't work under that kind of threat.

[namechange0dq8]

pension pot

I think the argument is that superannuation schemes in the public sector are not based on a pot, but are an entitlement to deferred salary. You'd need an expert on public sector pensions to know which schemes have a fund and which schemes are unfunded liabilities paid by future tax revenues, but I'm pretty certain the police are in the latter category.

I don't say this to defend the idea of stopping pensions, because I think it's mad. But you need to be careful with the concept of a "pension pot" for public sector employees, as most of them don't have one. There is not, for example, a huge pool of money slushing around being invested in order to pay NHS pensions. There's just a rusty tin box with an IOU in it.

[WhirlpoolGalaxyM51]

This is gross misconduct carried out by a group of people in a workplace which led to a vulnerable teenager self harming and attempting suicide twice.

Please can posters stop referring to it as a mistake? They didn't make a "mistake" - they were grossly negligent.

In a private company you are sacked on the spot for gross misconduct. These men were given the opportunity to retire early and (from what other posters have said) face no disciplinary action and collect the pensions as if they had been retired early due to injury or something ie full benefits. It would be great if someone could clarify if that's what it means.

IF it is the case that they have been retired early on the same basis as someone who was eg injured in the line of duty then that feels wrong to me.

[Burke1]

Rider so they actually said they wouldn't investigate your allegation? That's pretty bad

[Burke1]

Anniegetyourgun it's only bad form if their posting history isn't relevant to this subject. If it is, then I'd say you are absolutely fine to be referencing it as it is on topic. For example if they make a claim in one thread about not liking something but post in another that they do, it would be right to bring up the connection. Who's posting history is it?

[Burke1]

Ok fair enough

[namechange264]

I've name changed as might out me but I just wanted to say that this is my line of work and the law has recently changed so that it is now possible to prevent retirement or resignation when an officer is under investigation in respect of an allegation that might amount to gross misconduct.
Have tried to post link but not sure if it will work.

www.gov.uk/government/news/new-regulations-prevent-police-officers-retiring-or-resigning-to-avoid-dismissal

[TTWK]

In a private company you are sacked on the spot for gross misconduct.

Or you'd be "persuaded" to take early retirement. That happens in private companies too. Especially if the person isn't that far from retirement anyway.

Sacking someone for gross misconduct when they've been employed for decades is fraught with dangers. Early retirement is often the more pragmatic solution.

[WhirlpoolGalaxyM51]

Thanks namechange.

Just started reading, and the headline number is shocking:

"From 1 December 2013 to 1 August 2014, 144 officers resigned or retired whilst subject to a gross misconduct investigation, preventing them from being held to account for their actions."

Fuck Me. 144 in 9 months? That's 16 a month! Being investigated for gross misconduct and leaving or retiring

I've worked in my industry for 15 years and I have heard of 3 people being sacked for gross misconduct. Now i know there's probably lots of reasons for differences but my point is I thought this was rare. 16 a month. Maybe even more if there are some who don't resign/retire (I imagine they do if they are guilty and the option is there).

I'm properly genuinely shocked.

[namechange264]

Quite. That's why the change in the law was very hard fought for.

[WhirlpoolGalaxyM51]

That number is scandalous isn't it.

If this is recent have the press picked it up at all?

[Nicknacky]

Does anyone know if that is 144 officers out of all in england and wales (presumably)? How many officers are employed?

Just out of interest.

[WhirlpoolGalaxyM51]

There's thousands upon thousands employed.

You might be able to find out via google.

[Athenaviolet]

What they did should be deemed a criminal level of negligence at work. They should be prosecuted!

[Nicknacky]

whirlpool Thanks for your response. That's why I asked "does anyone know". I don't live in England and I have a rough idea of how many scottish officers there are.

[WhirlpoolGalaxyM51]

Ah right.

I can google for you I guess. Hold on.

[WhirlpoolGalaxyM51]

"Key facts
There were 129,584 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in the 43 police forces of England and Wales as at 31 March 2013. This is a decrease of 3.4% or 4,516 officers compared to a year earlier (Table 1 and 3).

There were 6,537 FTE Minority Ethnic officers in the 43 forces of England and Wales. This represents 5.0% of the total police officers, the same percentage as on 31 March 2012 (Table 7).

FTE police staff numbers for the 43 forces of England and Wales stood at 65,573, a decrease of 2.8% or 1,899 compared to a year earlier (Table 10a).

The total number of FTE police community support officers in the 43 police forces of England and Wales was 14,205, a decrease of 1.3% or 188 on the previous year (Table 10a).

There were 19,011 special constables as at 31 March 2013, 6.5% or 1,332 fewer than the previous year (Tables A and 11). Figure 1: Total police officers in 43 English and Welsh forces (full-time equivalent), change in number of officers from the previous year"

From here

Does that help?

[Nicknacky]

whirlpool why be so narky? I merely asked a question and in the meantime I looked it up. Maybe don't be so defensive to a simple question?

[BathtimeFunkster]

One mistake at work



You really have to wonder at the level of competence in their own jobs of people who think that victimising a 17 year old rape victim, by attempting to charge her with a crime for reporting the actual rape that was done to her, for which she had handed you evidence that you have failed to investigate, and causing her to attempt suicide, counts as a wee whoopsie.

These bastards took a minor who had reported a serious crime and tried to put her in prison. They were quite happy to let her rapist walk free without doing their actual job of investigating his crime.

They were not just incompetent, and negligent. They abused the powers of their job to bully a young girl with mental health issues.

It's a fucking scandal that they were rewarded with early retirement on nice public sector, final salary pensions.

Their abuse of power should absolutely mean they forfeit every single perk of the job they were clearly not fit to be in.

These fuckers should be in prison, not off fishing and golfing and having a good laugh about what they got away with.

How many other victims of their abuse of power are there?

Are we really to believe that men who would behave this way were caught the first time?

Evil bastards.