Hampshire Police accused of lack of transparency after refusing to divulge details of allegations

Hampshire Police has been accused of a lack of transparency after refusing to divulge details of allegations that saw five Police officers suspended, one of those is a former Isle of Wight officer in an ongoing investigation that has now been running for over two years with the officers still being suspended on full play. As previously revealed in February The constabulary was investigating 16 police officers and three civilian staff over claims made by whistle bowler they used “inappropriate and prejudiced” language and behaviour. A secret undercover probe was launched last year with covert recording devices being planted in offices that caught officers making racist and homophobic comments at the force’s investigation centre in Basingstoke. A Freedom of Information Act application was made to Hampshire Police to provide more details of complaints made against staff that only opened in August 2017. A second question in the application was the outcome of the force’s investigation into the racist and homophobic made. Hampshire Police have refused to release any further details and made the claim that it would cost too much to provide it. Giving the application the cold shoulder by making the claim that a location could not be searched in respect of a complaint. A spokesman from the Constabulary said “In order to ascertain a list of complaints against staff at the police investigation centre in Basingstoke, a large review would need to be undertaken,” by hand and this would be outside the remit. “There is no means to search for complaints by location for that offence and as such, all complaints reported during the period would need to be reviewed to see whether they took place in the investigation centre and formed part on the investigation.