MANY people will be disturbed by our revelation that 55 police officers and staff have committed serious misconduct ‘offences’ in the past three years.

Allegations against them cover a wide range from offences of rape, child porn, fraud and making threats to kill to harassment and drink driving.

It has to be remembered though that out of more than 6,000 force employees these bad apples represent a small minority.

The Police Federation also suggests that Lancashire police are stricter on discipline than many other forces and has above average rates for sacking officers who have misbehaved or acted in a criminal manner.

That is reassuring.

But it is worrying that the disciplining of wayward police officers is done in private.

Nurses, teachers, doctors and various other professionals have national regulatory bodies which hold disciplinary hearings in public.

They have the power to strike off individuals and effectively stop them working anywhere in the country.

Police need a similar professional body – not just to ensure accountability and consistent standards nationwide but also to remove any suspicion that private hearings mean police are not being policed openly and fairly.