Up to 50 Scottish police officers suspended over alleged crimes against women

Greer is one of three former officers to be exposed as rapists this year.In July, Cameron Ross was jailed for 10 years after he was found guilty of raping two women and threatened to kill another in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, and in Inverness over a 10-year period.Ross, 39, has since launched an appeal against both his conviction and his sentence.Last month, former police sergeant Campbell Petrie, 50, was found guilty of a series of sex attacks on women between 2006 and 2023.Petrie - who was first arrested following a complaint by one of his victims 17 years ago – was convicted of two counts of rape and a number of other charges including physical and sexual abuse towards two women in Glasgow.He was suspended by Police Scotland after being charged with the offences in December 2023 but retired from the force two years later.Another officer, Jay Skivington, 24, was sentenced in October to 160 hours of unpaid work and given five-year non-harassment order for violent offences against a woman.Farrell said that between 300 and 400 officers had now been revetted as part of new rules brought in following the murder of Sarah Everard by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.She said the rules would make it easier to "exit people" found to be unsuitable to serve in the force."It's only now during this year there has been a change in the vetting regime. So for the first time, if an officer fails their vetting, they can be exited from policing," she said."So that is a very recent change, and a welcome change from my point of view. Up until that point there were no opportunities to exit people from the organisation."Farrell added: "My focus is on identifying where there is wrongdoing, criminality, particularly in relation to violence against women and girls and if that has been committed by our officers and our staff, that we identify it and we ensure that those people feel the full force of the law."