Avon and Somerset Police documentary 'shocks' force

A police force has defended its decision to let TV cameras follow its anti-corruption unit - but admitted parts were "shocking" to watch.

To Catch A Copper is airing on Channel 4 and goes behind the scenes at Avon and Somerset Police as it looks into cases against its own officers.

Chief Constable Sarah Crew said: "I think it's really important that we are open and transparent."

But she said parts of the documentary had been "uncomfortable".

"I winced watching the clips in the documentary and, just like my colleague Insp Jon Owen, felt disappointed, worried, concerned and ashamed and that really resonates to me," she said.

"We hear much more in recent times about misconduct by police officers and I think it's right that the public know what we're doing to tackle that."

The police boss, who became the force's first female chief constable in November 2021, said members of the public would "see policing on its worst days".

But she added: "They will also see policing on its best days, especially in the colleagues in our professional standards department and anti-corruption units who are constantly working hard within the system to root out bad behaviour."

The force invited production company Story Films to start filming in 2019 and filmed for four years, looking at issues of race, mental health and sexual misconduct in policing.

The opening episode, which aired on Monday, was about officers accused of seriously mistreating or sexually exploiting people in their hour of need.

When two officers are called to a bridge at night to help a woman who has said she wants to take her own life, she is arrested, roughly handled and pepper sprayed in the face, before being taken into custody.

In another case, two officers mock a woman having a mental health crisis. Their behaviour is captured on body-worn video camera.

Det Con Amber Redman, of Avon and Somerset police's professional standards department, who features in the documentary said: "When I first joined the constabulary 21 years ago, it was a different environment to the one I know now.

"There was less confidence in coming forward about appropriate behaviours.

"Avon and Somerset Police is absolutely changing and improving and there are young cohorts of officers coming through that will challenge behaviours.

"There are officers who have learnt that the culture that once existed, is no longer acceptable and there's an awareness of what's appropriate and what's not appropriate."

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