Senior police officers face court

[Bald Bouncer]

Two senior Surrey police officers are to appear before magistrates over claims of misconduct in public office.
Ch Supt Adrian Harper and Supt Jonathan Johncox have both been summonsed to appear in court, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.
Both were suspended in May over alleged dishonest conduct relating to the avoidance of speeding fines.

The IPCC said the court summonses followed an inquiry into the granting of exemptions for traffic offences.
The cases are due to be heard at Aldershot Magistrates' Court in Hampshire on 28 August.

Ch Supt Harper is facing claims of two offences of misconduct in public office, and Supt Johncox is facing an allegation of one offence.
Temporary replacements were appointed at Surrey Police after the high-ranking officers were suspended.

Further cases
The IPCC investigation looked at exemptions for traffic offences granted to Surrey Police officers and staff from April 2006 to December 2008.
In addition to Ch Supt Harper and Supt Johncox, 11 other officers were also investigated.

Three of those cases were not upheld and four are still being considered by the IPCC.
Four cases have been upheld and Surrey Police is considering further misconduct charges against the officers involved.

An IPCC spokeswoman said: "Police officers responding to emergencies with their blue lights activated are exempt from prosecution for speeding or red light offences.
"However, officers in unmarked cars or who do not activate their emergency equipment may not be, and could be issued with notices of intended prosecution.

"In these cases, officers are able to apply for an exemption if there is a justifiable reason within the law for the speed at which they were travelling, or the reason why they drove through a red light."

Source

[Over Carl]

Tip of the iceberg stuff.

Spoiler:

Amnesty for Met credit card abuse


One in three people issued with the corporate credit cards misused them

More than 1,000 police officers and staff who misused corporate credit cards will not be punished, a police watchdog has decided. The Metropolitan Police Authority found 1,183 Met employees used the American Express cards for personal spending.
They were given "training and guidance" instead of punishment.
But Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) member Jenny Jones said training was "not enough" and called for disciplinary action to be taken.
The MPA audit found that one in three of the 3,533 Met officers and staff issued with corporate credit cards misused them.
At one point £3.7m of public money was unaccounted for.
The majority of this money was paid back but legal action is expected against two officers who owe £82,000 and £1,100.
Money repaid
People who made "potentially unacceptable" use of the credit cards, including cases of suspected fraud, were labelled "category A" by the MPA and passed to anti-corruption detectives.
The 1,183 people who misused a card but did not break the law were labelled "category B".
These included officers and staff who purchased personal items and later repaid the money or bought equipment that should have been purchased by other means.
The internal MPA document stated: "It was agreed between all interested parties that due to the volume of files involved, those officers that are deemed to have category B files would receive no formal discipline sanction for their card use, but would receive 'training and guidance' with regards their use."

Having police who do not obey the rules is damaging for public confidence in the Met because you ask: 'What other rules do they break?'


Jenny Jones, Metropolitan Police Authority

But Ms Jones said: "I find it unacceptable that the police have just let these officers go with guidance.
"They must have known what they were doing was wrong."
She added: "Having police who do not obey the rules is damaging for public confidence in the Met because you ask: 'What other rules do they break?'"
A Met spokesman declined to comment.
A spokeswoman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said: "The IPCC agreed with the Met that any cases where there were possible misconduct or criminal offences committed would be referred to the IPCC, all other cases would be dealt with locally by the Met."
Fifty cases of Met credit card misuse have been referred to the IPCC so far, she added.
"Of those, three officers have been convicted, two are awaiting trial, 14 have been given written warnings, one has received words of advice, one has received a formal reprimand and two are awaiting misconduct hearings."
The Met has introduced a new Barclaycard corporate credit card system with tighter spending controls.
Inquiries into corporate credit card use by Met officers and staff are expected to continue until March 2010.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8192964.stm

I think they have come to the conclusion laws cannot apply to those that rule us otherwise there would be no-one left and ordinary people could then get into positions of power. Even the news are on their side - look at how it says Category B officers have done wrong, yet not broken any laws. If they have done wrong, surely they have breached their contracts and obtained money transfers by deception (even if they have subsequently returned this money).

[doughboy]

unmarked cars fly through red lights for a reason.

I fully support them.

[rmj2663]

unmarked cars fly through red lights for a reason.

I fully support them.

Read the last paragraph in the OP

If there is a legitimate reason they can apply for exemption.

It is the avoidance of legitimate speeding fines being investigated.
But being the old Bill & above the law, no doubt it will all be brushed under the carpet. Wouldn't want to tarnish the image now.....would we?