Seven drink-drive West Midlands Police officers sacked
Seven serving officers at West Midlands Police have been sacked during the past five years after being caught drink-driving, it can be revealed.
Another resigned while one officer kept their job but was given a final written warning.
One of the sacked police officers was caught behind the wheel at more than three times the drink-drive limit, the Freedom of Information request revealed.
A total of 10 officers were stopped across the West Midlands between 2010 and 2015, including motorways and major roads the M5 and the Black Country Route.
An officer was even tested 'at work'.
A male police constable was fired last year after being stopped on the Straight Mile in Calf Heath.
He blew a massive 121 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. Another male PC quit the force after being stopped at three times the limit – 105mg – on Aldersley Road, Wolverhampton, in 2010.
The next highest reading was an officer that was stopped at 101mg along the busy Black Country Route. Another was pulled over on the M5 with 53mg. Officers were also stopped on Finchfield Road, Wolverhampton, and Hamstead Road, Great Barr.
The figures were revealed following a Freedom of Information request by the Express & Star. All the officers are thought to have been driving their own cars while off duty when stopped. However, a police sergeant blew over the limit – 42mg – while 'at work', the data showed. He was among the officers who were sacked.
A female Pc was given a final written warning after being found to have 88mg of alcohol in her system, while the case against another female Pc, who was apparently stopped with 53mg in her system in Stourport, was dropped after it wasn't proven.
West Midlands Police spokesman Brigg Ford said: "West Midlands Police demands the highest levels of professionalism from all its staff – and as these figures show, any police officer found guilty of drink-driving can expect to be dismissed from the force. It is a serious offence and the law applies equally to police officers as it does any other member of the public."
It comes after a member of the force's collision investigation unit was taken to court in January after admitting drink-driving.
Pc Chris Blount was stopped on November 6 on the Black Country Route after patrolling officers spotted him 'struggling to control' his Vauxhall Mokka at 2.30am. He was fined £1,425 and disqualified from driving for two years at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court.
