August 11, 2009
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News: Over 1000 Cops Busted for CC Abuse in UK -- Sentence: Training & guidance.
BBC reports a major bust. Scotland yard (or Metropolitan Police Authority) did their job well but, alas, the justice meted did not set well with the investigators. Of the 1,183 Met officers, only two were found guilty of criminal behavior and those two will receive heftier sentences. All have been found guilty of using government Amex credit cards for personal use. One member of the MPA (Metropolitan Police Authority), Jenny Jones, has been more vocal about it. She believes that more "disciplinary action" should be taken. About a third of the 3,500 officers and staff on the Met force were implicated. Because of credit card misuse, about #3.7m of public money was unaccounted for". Most of the credit card charges has been paid back but in two of the cases, #82,000 and #1,100 are still outstanding.
The severity levels were classified as "Category A" for cases where the actions were considered unacceptable. The rest were classified as "Category B". The more serious cases were forwarded to "anti-corruption detectives." 1,180 of the credit card abuses were less serious and were cases which had either already been repaid or were used to purchase items that should have been bought though a different means. Because there was no criminal element (only a breaking of the rules) and the huge size of the group, those in Category B were deemed by "all interested parties" to not require formal disciplined action. That is, better training and guidance concerning the rules governing the use of government credit cards.
Ms. Jones is not happy with the outcome, believing that "they must have known what they were doing was wrong. Having police who do not obey the rules is damaging for public confidence in the Met because you ask: 'What other rules do they break?'" The investigation is still ongoing and is expected to continue on through March of 2010. Where credit card misconduct and criminal intent are found, these cases will be handled by the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission).