POLICE have arrested dozens of their own staff in the North-East over the past four years.

Figures released this week by media group Newsquest’s Data Investigation Unit revealed that a total of 34 members of staff working for Northumbria Police had been arrested since 2015.

Through Freedom of Information requests, the team at Newsquest asked police forces throughout the country for statistics on how many police officers and general members of staff, such as admin, had fallen foul of the law.

Of the total in the Northumbria Police force area, 24 were serving police officers and the remaining eight were staff members.

A total of 15 the arrests had led to criminal action, while the cases of 16 others had been dropped.

No officers had been dismissed and no final warnings had been issued as a result of the alleged criminality.

The total amount of arrests within the force accounted for 0.8 per cent of the Northumbria workforce, ranking the force joint ninth highest in the table of the 30 forces who responded to the FOI request.

The investigation highlighted the case of PC Jon Snaith, who was likely to receive a custodial sentence after pleading guilty to charges of police corruption, between February 2017 and April 2018, and offering to supply cocaine on April 24, 2018.

PC Snaith had admitted the charges at Newcastle Crown Court in February, and was due to be sentenced later this year.

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said: “We expect officers and staff to maintain the highest levels of professionalism at all times and I want to assure the public that we are committed to taking positive action when individuals fall below the expected standards of behaviour.”

The national figures uncovered through the Newsquest Data Investigation Unit research revealed that more than 900 police officers and almost 300 police staff members had been arrested during that time period. Some had been arrested in connection to serious crimes such as rape, death by dangerous driving, assault occasioning GBH and burglary.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “The Government is continuing to deliver wide-reaching reforms which overhaul the police discipline system. These intend to increase the accountability and transparency of the system, and ensure that the measures are proportionate for policing as a whole.”