SERVING police officers across Co Tyrone have been convicted of criminal offences including drink-driving, theft and driving without insurance, it can be revealed.
Since the formation of the PSNI in 2001, some 24 officers stationed in the county have been convicted of at least one crime.
In most cases the officers have been allowed to remain in their jobs.
According to PSNI correspondence released to this new
spaper after a Freedom of Information request, six officers stationed in the Dungannon area have been convicted of a criminal offence.
There were another six officers convicted in the Cookstown area, five based in Omagh and a further seven in Strabane, the PSNI confirmed.
Recently a meeting of the borough's District Policing Partnership was told that a police officer in the Dungannon area had been formally disciplined after being convicted of a motoring offence.
The figures represent incidents reported to the Professional Standards Department, the body with responsibility for internal discipline within the force.
They do not include minor offences which may have been dealt with at local management level, and represent the number of police officers convicted rather than the number of convictions.
Of the 24 officers convicted of a criminal offence, just four were forced to leave the service. One resigned before misconduct proceedings had been completed, a second resigned as an alternative to dismissal while two others were dismissed.
The PSNI was asked to provide full details on each conviction including the rank of the officer involved, the offence he/she was convicted of and the punishment imposed.
However this request was rejected, with the PSNI claiming that the identity of individual officers could be revealed by releasing further details.
The PSNI did, however, provide a list which reveals the range of offences committed by officers. These include drink-driving, driving without insurance or a driving licence, assault, theft and dangerous driving.
On at least one occasion an officer was convicted of being drunk in charge of a firearm.
Earlier this year a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board was told that 42 officers were currently suspended for alleged misconduct - the highest since the PSNI was formed.
Alleged involvement in running a brothel, drink-driving and downloading porn on police computers are among the issues under investigation.3
The suspended officers include two who are based in Co Tyrone. It is understood both have been serving in the Strabane area, and both are alleged to have been involved in criminal activity.
A PSNI spokesman said the service took any allegation of wrongdoing extremely seriously but said the number of convictions had to be viewed in the context of the overall size of the PSNI in Co Tyrone.
"The Police Service expects its staff to behave professionally, ethically and with the utmost integrity at all times," he said.
"Whilst the service takes extremely seriously any allegation of wrongdoing, the number of cases must be put into context of the overall number of police attached to the four areas concerned - just over 400 officers."
Earlier this month a DPP meeting in Aughnacloy was told that a police officer had been formally disciplined after being convicted of a motoring offence.
The officer, who was based in the Dungannon area, received a fine as a result of a misconduct hearing.
Another officer also received superintendent's warnings on two separate occasions - once after being convicted of a traffic offence and also for breaching the code of ethics.
The disclosure followed a question from DPP member Ruairi Gildernew. It is understood that both incidents occurred within the last two years.
