FOI 80361
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 80361
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 11th May 2021. Please find below the response to your request:
Does West Mercia Police employ constables/officers if applicants already have criminal records?
Reply:-
Please see below extract from the Police Officer application form - Criminal convictions. The application was revised by the College of Policing and has been in use since March 2021
Honesty is of the highest importance in policing. If you have a criminal record, this doesn’t mean you won’t be considered. This depends on the nature of your conviction. Please declare any current or previous cautions or convictions, including cautions as a juvenile, on your application form. If you don’t, you will fail vetting due to integrity concerns.
Some applicants do not declare information that they believe is no longer held on record. Others do not declare information because they believe it is no longer relevant. However, our enquiries will reveal incidents from long ago and failure to disclose these will lead to your application being rejected.
If you have any doubts about the relevance of a conviction or caution, include the details and let us decide.
Note: We will also need to know whether any of your close family or associates are involved in criminal activity and we will therefore search for any criminal convictions or cautions recorded against them. You must advise them that these enquiries will be made. The police service cannot disclose the results of these enquiries to you.
Applications prior to March 2021included the extract below:
Convictions and Cautions
Convictions or cautions will not necessarily preclude you from appointment. It will depend on their nature and the circumstances of the offence. Failure to disclose convictions will however result in your application being refused.
You must declare all convictions for any past offences, formal cautions by the police (including cautions as a juvenile i.e. under 18 years) and any bind-overs imposed by any court. You should include traffic convictions such as speeding, drink-drive offences, fixed penalties for motoring or disorder offences, anti-social behaviour orders and any appearances before a court martial. You must also declare any charge or summons currently outstanding against you.
You must include spent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders act 1974 (by virtue of the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions Order 1975) or any involvement with civil, military or transport police. You must also declare if you have ever been involved in any criminal investigation whether or not this led to prosecution (either of yourself or others).
Some applicants do not declare information which they believe is no longer held on record. However, our enquiries will reveal incidents from long ago and failure to disclose these will lead to your application being rejected. If you have any doubts, include the details and let us decide if they are relevant. You can access the policy on criminal convictions from your police recruitment office.
We will also want to know whether any of your close family or associates are involved in criminal activity and we will therefore search for any criminal convictions or cautions recorded against them. You must advise them that these enquiries will be made. The Police Service cannot disclose the results of these enquiries to you.
All police officer applications are subject to Vetting.