More funding needs to be allocated to the police to improve the recruitment process and restore trust in officers.

That’s the view of Salisbury mayor, Cllr Caroline Corbin, who has been talking to the Journal about the recent debate over women’s safety.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says there is “a massive job” to be done in restoring women’s confidence in police after the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer.

And figures obtained by Radar under a Freedom of Information request confirm this.

According to newly-released data, six sexual assault complaints were made against male Wiltshire Police officers between 2016 and 2020.

Of the complaints, four saw no further action and in two the victim did not wish to pursue the case.

The data does not specify if the officers were on or off duty at the time the alleged incidents occurred.

The gender of the person making the accusation was also unknown in each case.

In the wake of recent events, Cllr Corbin is calling for more funding to allow better background checks to be carried out before officers are recruited.

“You can’t tar everybody with the same brush,” she said, “but likewise the police recruitment process needs to be tightened and more checks need to be made because without that, people who are likely to do those type of things will angle themselves in a position where they’ll get maximum opportunity.”

“If they can’t get the support of the community, how can you keep that trust, how can you rebuild that trust?

“If it’s not properly funded how can you make sure you’re recruiting the right kind of people?

"You’re not going to have the ability to do all the checks and everything, because how can you be checking all these staff and then maintain the appropriate service for residents.

“Everything revolves around money unfortunately so unless you have enough money for the things that are needed, you’re not going to have a solution.”

Wiltshire Police said all public complaints and conduct matters are dealt with “robustly” and officers in misconduct cases face disciplinary actions.

A spokesman said: “We want our communities to have confidence that their concerns or complaints will be listened to and acted on.”

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