Ten Cleveland Police Officers Faced Dismissal-Level Action Over Sexual Misconduct, FOI Reveals...
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FOI Data Shows Ten Police Officers Linked To Dismissal-Level Sexual Misconduct Findings
11th May 2026
A Freedom of Information response has revealed that seven police officers working for Cleveland Police were either dismissed or assessed as people who “would have been dismissed” for sexual misconduct over a four-year period.
The figures were released following a Freedom of Information request by a member of the public asking how many officer dismissals there'd been for sexual misconduct within the troubled Teesside police force, broken down by financial year.
The response did not provide the full ten-year breakdown originally requested, but instead supplied figures from 2021/22 onwards.
According to the FOI response, the figures were as follows:
Financial Year | Outcome |
2021/22 | 1 officer would have been dismissed |
2022/23 | 1 officer dismissed, 3 would have been dismissed |
2023/24 | 3 officers would have been dismissed |
2024/25 | 2 officers would have been dismissed |
In total, the figures show one officer was formally dismissed, while a further nine officers were recorded as people who “would have been dismissed” had they still been serving.
It brings the total number of cases disclosed in the response to ten over the four financial years provided. The wording “would have been dismissed” is significant also, because it's commonly used in police misconduct proceedings where an officer has already resigned or left the force before the conclusion of the disciplinary process had taken place. In such cases, the panel may still determine that the conduct was so serious that dismissal would have been the appropriate outcome had the officer remained in post.
Four Officers in the Space of Just One Year
The highest number of cases disclosed came in the 2022/23 financial year, when four officers were recorded in relation to sexual misconduct — one dismissed and three who would have been dismissed.
The figures also show that the issue has not disappeared in more recent years. In 2023/24, three officers were recorded as people who would have been dismissed, while a further two were recorded in 2024/25.
While the figures fail to provide details of the individual cases, the number of police officers working on Teesside reaching dismissal-level misconduct findings raises clear questions around police standards, vetting, supervision, and public confidence.
Sexual misconduct within policing has become an increasingly serious public concern in recent years, particularly where the behaviour involves officers abusing their position, targeting vulnerable people, or bringing the wider reputation of policing into disrepute.
For members of the public, the figures are likely to raise concern not only about the number of cases, but also about how many officers appear to have left their roles before formal dismissal could take place & which ones are being given annonimity, especially when their cases go before a disciplinary panel.
The data shows that, across the four years disclosed, the majority of outcomes were recorded as “would have been dismissed” rather than actual dismissals. That means many of the officers involved were no longer serving by the time the misconduct process reached its conclusion & never to be named publicly.
The Teesside & Durham Post understands that cases of this nature are among the most serious matters considered under police misconduct procedures, given the level of trust placed in officers and the potential impact on public confidence, with the disclosed figures likely to add to calls for much more scrutiny as to how police forces handle misconduct allegations, particularly those involving sexual behaviour, abuse of authority, and the treatment of complainants.
