Detective Superintendent Jill Fowler, head of professional standards for Warwickshire Police, talks about her role that involves holding colleagues to account

For example, allegations that Warwickshire Police failed to deal adequately with an officer accused of serious misconduct after he stalked a woman.

Charlotte Smith, 28, said she was harassed and stalked by an officer for two-and-a-half years.

The accused officer, Det Sgt Paul Whitehurst, 48, worked in the anti-corruption and professional standards department.

Charlotte first encountered DS Whitehurst when she was a young adult and a victim of grooming. DS Whitehurst is now suspended.

And several other officers are also currently suspended from Warwickshire Police force for alleged misconduct.

Coming against a national backdrop of Baroness Casey’s review, which last year found the Metropolitan Police were failing women and children and exposed institutional racism, sexism and homophobia, these allegations seem even more concerning.

The nation was also shocked by the case of Wayne Couzens, who was a serving police officer with the Met Police when he abducted, raped and murdered Londoner Sarah Everard. He was given a whole-life sentence in September 2021.

Then in February this year, serial rapist David Carrick pleaded guilty to more than 40 offences, including 24 counts of rape. His offences were all committed while he was a serving officer in the Met Police. He was sentenced to 36 life terms.

With this in mind, what is Det Supt Fowler doing to improve and enforce standards within this county’s police force?

She told the Herald: “We take misconduct very seriously in Warwickshire.

“Understandably, police officers are held to a higher account, a higher standard than other professions and we support that.

“There's a lot of national interest on and around police behaviour but I welcome that because it gives us a great opportunity to look at standards of behaviour and what we expect of police officers and to make sure that in Warwickshire we’re holding all our officers to that standard.

“Where they're falling short, to make sure we act robustly to send out a message to our own organisation about where our standard is and make sure everybody upholds that standard.”

Following Sarah Everard’s murder, the then Home Secretary Priti Patel launched an inquiry into how a serving police officer (Couzens) was able to abduct, rape and murder a member of the public.

The resulting probe examined policing across England and Wales, including vetting new recruits and workplace behaviour.

Shortly afterwards, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) concluded vetting standards were not high enough and it was ‘too easy for the wrong people to both join and stay in the police’.

In January, the Home Office instructed all forces to strengthen vetting and so Warwickshire Police has had to check all officers’ and staff’s records against the police intelligence database.

“We've put every member of our workforce and volunteers through and haven't discovered any horror stories at all, so that was good news and good for public reassurance,” Det Supt Fowler said.

In February, Warwickshire Police introduced Operation Amethyst to encourage officers and staff to challenge and report behaviours that make them feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, intimidated, degraded or humiliated.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire, along with other forces, has been recruiting to meet former PM Boris Johnsons’ promise of 20,000 extra police officers.

Det Supt Fowler explained: “In Warwickshire, we've recruited over 300 police officers in a relatively short period of time.

“Clearly what we are doing is making sure all those police officers understand what the standards are.”

It isn’t just about what happens while an officer is on-duty, there’s also much emphasis on off-duty and online behaviour.

For example, Det Supt Fowler says WhatsApp messages exchanged between serving police officers in the Met are used in training, as a grim warning of how not to behave.

Should we be worried these new police officers have been recruited too quickly?

Det Supt Fowler refutes this, citing the fact that Warwickshire not only vets for its own force, but also holds the national contract to vet for other forces.

“I know that's probably perception but no, I wouldn't agree with that,” she said.

“Everybody who’s passed through vetting deserves to be here and there are definitely no shortcuts taken.”

Warwickshire has a particularly ‘young in-service workforce’, something Det Supt Fowler describes as “our biggest challenge”.

She explained: “Lots of police officers have grown up through that Covid era of two or three years of not going out socialising and then joined the police at 18.”

But she believes it’s also an opportunity, as it’s easier to mould younger officers and she also points to the “rigorous” training programme they’re put through.

Another bonus of a younger workforce is, she says, they’re “happy to challenge where they think things aren't right”.

Det Supt Fowler’s father was a police officer and both her adult children are also police officers - one with West Midlands and the other with West Mercia.

“I'm absolutely passionate about policing - it's in my blood,” she pointed out.

After joining the police cadets at 16, she moved up to the regulars at 18.

Marriage and motherhood prompted her to take a break from the force “because in those days, that’s what you did...we didn't really have family-friendly hours.”

But she rejoined in 2006, working out of West Mercia and transferred to Warwickshire in 2017, as a Detective Inspector.

With the bulk of her career spent as a detective in public protection, including domestic abuse and child protection work, she says these experiences of violence against women and girls and domestic abuse have left her “passionate about raising standards around police behaviour”.

She joined professional standards as a DCI last year, before being promoted to Detective Superintendent in January.

Although the first half of her career began in the late 1980s and ran through the 1990s, the second half didn’t start until 2006 so she's witnessed an enormous change in that time.

Not least, the number of female police officers which has risen from a “very small percentage” when she joined, to accounting for almost half of Warwickshire’s recent intake.

She’s optimistic about Operation Amethyst: “As much as I might feel able to stand up and say things and some young people can, there are a swathe of people who can't,” she pointed out.

The uncomfortable fact that several police officers are currently suspended for alleged misconduct can be seen as “a positive thing”, she argues, because “that's something we’re tackling”.

She added: “Any kind of misconduct we think is not acceptable is now tackled, and if somebody needs to be suspended, we're not frightened to do that, either.

DS Paul Whitehurst’s case was handed to the independent office for police conduct (IOPC) in November 2020 but he wasn’t suspended from duty until 2022, sparking allegations that Warwickshire dragged its heels.

Det Supt Fowler explained: “I totally understand why people feel frustrations about the length of time because I feel those frustrations myself but we don't hold the IOPC to account for the amount of time they take, we can only hold ourselves to account.”

What does she say to those worried there's no point in reporting misconduct, as it won't be taken seriously?

“I give you my own personal assurance that any report made of misconduct against a Warwickshire officer will be investigated thoroughly and robustly, because I don't want officers in my force who don't uphold the standards of professional behaviour,” she replied.

So, how close is working in professional standards to the drama of Line of Duty?

“Unfortunately, it's nowhere near as exciting as Line of Duty but fortunately, also nowhere near as risky.”

She never consciously chose to go into professional standards but says she wants Warwickshire to be a safe place for the public to live and “to know that if they contact the police, they're going to get a police officer with honesty and integrity that calls at their door and deals with their incidents”.

She adds: “That's what drives and motivates me.”