Sexual misconduct allegations rise against Thames Valley Police officers

The number of allegations of rape and other sex offences made against Thames Valley Police officers has increased over the past several years.

But the Professional Standards Department of Thames Valley Police, which writes regular reports on these figures, believes this could be a result of improved reporting.

The latest report looks into sexual misconduct complaints made against police staff from April 2020 until June 2025.

Sexual misconduct includes assault, harassment, abuse of position for sexual purposes and abuse of position to pursue an ‘inappropriate emotional relationship.’

There is also an ‘other sexual conduct’ category.

In total there have been 263 officers/other police staff subject to allegations of sexual misconduct since April 2020. The number in 2025 so far is 18.

In addition, 321 allegations are either finalised or still under investigation.

Of these, 48 per cent were finalised as ‘case to answer’, meaning the investigation concluded there was enough evidence to support the allegation and take formal disciplinary action. By contrast, 16 per cent were finalised as ‘no case to answer’, ie not enough evidence for formal action.

Types of alleged offences

Every year, the brunt of the complaints against ranked officers were against constables rather than more senior officers such as sergeants and inspectors.

The number of complaints was highest last year, with 35 constables facing allegations of sexual misconduct, compared to just nine in 2020/21.

The most serious of the allegations, rape, went up to eight cases last year, having seen zero such allegations in 2020/21.

Sexual assault has been the most common specific allegation (ie not falling within the ‘other’ category), fetching 16 allegations last year. This is the highest since 2020/21.

A significant majority of those accused of sexual misconduct were male (218) but there were also 31 female staff and 14 of ‘unknown’ gender.

An officer/ staffs gender can be unknown where a complaint is made but the identity of the officer is unknown.

Consequences

The number of officers, former officers, and staff who have been disciplined for sexual misconduct matters in this period was 67.

Of these, 34 were serving officers, 10 were other service police staff, and 23 were former officers/staff.

Consequences have ranged from reductions in rank to outright dismissals.

The most common was dismissal. The year before last (2023/24), 11 officers and staff faced dismissal, and 12 more the year before that. Since the beginning of 2020, there have been 39 police officers/staff dismissed in total.

There were fewer last year – and none so far this year.

Other consequences include written warning and ‘reflective practice’, meaning where the officer meets with a supervisor to discuss what happened, why it was wrong, and how to avoid repeating it.

The number of officers/staff suspended or restricted (still working but with limits on what they can do) sits at 76 and 71 respectively.

Investigations of sexual misconduct ‘are small’ but have ‘increased significantly’ since 2023.

“This shows that confidence is starting to increase in the reporting of these allegations,” the Professional Standards Department wrote.

“It also shows that Thames Valley Police will take decisive action when sexual misconduct allegations are made.”