There has been growing concern over cases where police officers abuse their position of power to carry out these offences, resulting in the lack of public trust in law enforcement.
If you suspect a police officer, staff member or volunteer of corruption or serious abuse, call the Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service on 0800 085 0000. Here are some of the police officers who were convicted for the heinous crimes they committed.

1. Elliot Wright
Elliot Wright, 29, was working as an officer in the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit when he arranged to meet a vulnerable teenage girl after finishing his shift on March 21, 2024. After his arrest, detectives found further potential victims on social media – including a 16-year-old girl who he had paid for sexual images. He was sentenced to a total of three-and-a-half years at St Albans Crown Court and was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. | Bedfordshire Police

2. Cliff Mitchell
Cliff Mitchell, 24, was recruited by the Metropolitan police as an officer despite being accused of raping a child was convicted of 13 counts of raping a woman and a child, as well as kidnap. Mitchell had gone to his victim’s address, raped her at knife-point, used his hooded top to blindfold her, taped her mouth, and bound her hands with cable ties, before forcing her into his car. She escaped by pretending she had to vomit. Police were called, leading hours later to Mitchell’s capture, with the hooded top found in his car and cable ties recovered from an address linked to him. | Met Police

3. Christopher Ferguson
Police Scotland officer Christopher Ferguson, 31, was found guilty of nine charges - including two counts of voyeurism - on June 13. He subjected one woman to repeated assaults as well as telling her what she could wear, reading her text messages and taking away her mobile phone. Ferguson was found guilty of stalking the same woman through repeated calls and texts, delivering unwanted gifts, monitoring her social media and waiting outside a relative’s property for her. A third woman was also repeatedly attacked by Ferguson, who caused her to fall down a flight of stairs to her injury. On August 21, at Hamilton Sheriff Court, Ferguson was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment. His name has been added to the sex offenders register for 10 years. | Police Scotland

4. Sevda Gonen and Stuart Price
Two officers have been convicted of assaulting a 16-year-old boy who they were transporting to hospital for a mental health assessment. Following a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court which concluded on Friday, 20 December, PC Sevda Gonen, 33, was found guilty of two counts of assault by beating - one for using unlawful force when searching the victim and the second for slapping him and holding his hair. PC Stuart Price, 35, was found guilty of one count of using unlawful force when searching the victim. | Getty Images/iStockphoto