‘Sarah Everard’s legacy’: Police sexual misconduct complaints soar by almost 50% in wake of murder
Allegations of police sexual harassment and assault have soared by almost 50 per cent since the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, The Independent can reveal.
Analysis of police watchdog figures by this publication has uncovered a dramatic spike in reports from members of the public about police sexual misconduct, with 293 complaints made against officers and staff last year.
The total includes more than 200 allegations of sexual assault, 20 accounts of sexual harassment and 65 complaints recorded as “other sexual conduct” against forces in England and Wales in 2022-2023.
This is up from 199 sexual conduct complaints lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) three years earlier – when police corruption was dramatically thrust into after Ms Everard by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens.
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