We must face the dark truth that police work attracts abusers and fix it

WOMEN have been trying to tell us about it. But we haven't wanted to hear.

- Martha Gill

Let’s start with the facts. Police work is a noble calling. Those who join the force are among the very best of us: those with a strong belief in justice, and who want to protect vulnerable people. They believe in these things so much that they don’t just want to virtue signal about it on the internet. They want to do something.

In fact, they are willing to do something that puts their lives on the line.

Let’s start with another set of facts. Among these good men and women who proudly wear the uniform of law enforcement there lurk monsters. An alarming review by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, a police watchdog, has found that hundreds of police officers who should have failed vetting checks may be in the job in England and Wales.

Even when the vetting process turned up “disturbing information” — such as convictions for domestic abuse, robbery and indecent exposure, and sexual misconduct complaints — applicants were accepted. They have accepted pimps and people in whose families there is criminal activity, which they have lied about.

Naturally, attention has now turned towards the vetting process. It needs to be more finely tuned, politicians and police chiefs say. It’s what they always say.