ALMOST 2,000 police employees have been accused of sexual misconduct, including rape, over the last four years, yet two-thirds have faced no disciplinary action. 

The shocking figures, revealed through freedom of information requests to 39 forces, include over 370 accusations for sexual assault, nearly 100 for rape and 18 for child sex offences. 

Of the total number of sex claims made, nearly two-thirds were discontinued, and just 8 per cent led to a dismissal, the figures uncovered by Channel 4’s Dispatches show. 

Where complaints of sexual misconduct were upheld, just one-third of officers were sacked. 

Disturbingly, perpetrators in the police are targeting vulnerable people they know are unlikely to be believed, researchers from Bournemouth University said.

In their study of 514 proven cases of sexual assault, they found that two-thirds of victims had previously suffered domestic abuse, one fifth had mental health problems and one quarter had been sexually assaulted in the past.

The National Police Chief Council admitted to Dispatches that some people are attracted to working in the police because of the power and control it affords them over others. 

A separate set of figures obtained through freedom of information requests to 31 forces, released today, found that 750 allegations of sexual misconduct were made against officers between 2016 and 2020. They include more than 100 Police Scotland officers. 

Of the total number of cases logged by forces over the five years, at least 34 resulted in dismissals. 

The issue of sexism in the police has come under sharp focus since it was revealed that Wayne Couzens abused his position as serving Metropolitan Police officer to abduct, rape and murder Sarah Everard. 

Home Secretary Priti Patel last week launched an independent inquiry into the failures that allowed Mr Couzens to be employed by the police and missed opportunities to identify him as a dangerous sexual predator. 

End Violence Against Women Coalition deputy director Deniz Ugur said: “We need to see a radical overhaul of how the police respond to violence against women — especially within their own ranks.

“This means greater accountability and urgent, co-ordinated and strategic action to address violence against women.”

A lack of accountability in forces over sexual misconduct claims was laid bare in an investigation by the Times today, which found that such hearings are often held in private. 

Names of accused officers are anonymised and, even when officers are sacked, public notices outlining the findings were later deleted from websites, the paper reported.