Concerns have been raised in Reading over how police officers and staff are vetted amid allegations surrounding a suspected paedophile ring within the Metropolitan Police force.
Cllr Simon Robinson (Conservative, Emmer Green) asked the questions to Thames Valley Police during their annual presentation to Reading Borough Council’s policy committee, following the criminal actions of Met police officers David Carrick and Wayne Couzens.
Carrick pleaded guilty to 28 charges of rape amid a string of 49 total charges and will be sentenced next month.
Couzens is serving a life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard on March 4, 2021.
Cllr Robinson also mentioned separate investigations into an alleged paedophile ring relating to three officers within the Metropolitan Police.
Two retired Metropolitan Police officers were charged with child sex offences as part of an investigation into a serving Met chief inspector who was found dead before he could also be charged.
The body of Richard Watkinson, 49, was found in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire on Thursday, January 12 – the same day he was due to answer bail to be charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, voyeurism and two counts of misconduct in public office.
Jack Addis, 63, of no fixed abode and Jeremy Laxton, 62, from Lincolnshire, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, February 9.
Addis has been charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children. He was arrested in November 2021.
Laxton has been charged with conspiracy to distribute or show indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent photos of a child, possession of prohibited images of a child, possession of extreme pornographic images and intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence (misconduct in public office). He was arrested in September 2021.
They both left the force over a decade ago.
Cllr Robinson asked what procedures Thames Valley Police has in place to ensure employees are properly vetted in light of recent cases nationally.
He said: “There’s news of a potential paedophile ring within the Metropolitan Police itself, which came to light because a chief inspector recently sadly ending his life as information over this started to come out.
“This is a major wake up call for a lot of chief constables throughout the UK.
“Is there something within Thames Valley that you are doing in terms of extra measures to look at the vetting procedure and that sort of thing?
“It’s important that trust and confidence is returned to the police, and this is something I think is key moving forwards.”
John Campbell, chief constable of Thames Valley Police, said: “The first thing we do is try and recruit well, in terms of the people that are joining policing.”
He noted that Thames Valley Police is becoming increasingly diverse, with 594 officer recruits being women and 147 coming from a Black, Asian Mixed or Other Ethnic Background in 2022.
CC Campbell said: “That’s one aspect of things. Secondly you’ve got the practical process, which is vetting, so police officers and staff are vetted to a certain level.
“That level won’t change.”
Vetting is reviewed on a regular basis, and that the force is cultivating a culture of whistleblowing to expose impropriety, he said, adding: “We’ve had a number of occasions where officers and staff have called out the behaviour of a colleague and that’s encouraging to me, it means that everyone knows what the standards are and others are showing out when others are falling short of that.”
There is also a confidential hotline, a standards department and a counter corruption unit to support such efforts within the force.
CC Campbell said employees have been sacked when they fall below standards, with Thames Valley Police having a duty to publish misconduct hearings.
The question was answered at the policy committee meeting on Monday, January 23.
