Police officers in England and Wales fear reporting colleagues for wrongdoing, survey finds

Exclusive: Officers described a culture of silence and lack of support during police-on-police complaints

Police officers fear reporting colleagues for wrongdoing because they do not believe they will be supported for breaking a culture of silence, a new survey has found.

Almost half of officers think their complaints against fellow officers are mishandled, the survey seen by the Guardian found. It was carried out by the Police Federation (PFEW), which represents 140,000 rank and file officers across England and Wales.