Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police
A former officer who participated in two WhatsApp groups in which offensive material was shared would have been dismissed had he still been serving.
The officer, who has been granted anonymity and is therefore referred to as Officer A, resigned from the Met in October 2023. He was a serving officer at the time.
Former Officer A, attached to the Roads and Transport Policing Command, attended a gross misconduct hearing led by an independent legally qualified chair to face allegations that his conduct amounted to a breach standards of professional behaviour as follows:
- Discreditable conduct
- Challenging and reporting improper conduct
- Equality and diversity
The three day hearing began on Monday, 13 November and after hearing all the evidence the panel concluded that former Officer A would have been dismissed without notice had he still been serving. He will now be placed on the College of Policing barred list meaning he cannot serve as a police officer or in a number of other related roles in the future.
Between December 2017 and June 2018 former Officer A was involved in two WhatsApp chats in which racist, misogynistic and sexually explicit messages and videos were shared. On one occasion Officer A sent a racist message to one of the men concerned.
On a number of occasions former Officer A failed to challenge the sending of such content and instead appeared to encourage or endorse the message with his responses-often laughing face emojis.
Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah leading the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command said: “The nature of the images and messages on former Officer A’s phone are disgusting. Officer A had numerous opportunities to challenge the messages he had received however he failed at every turn instead he inexplicably chose to engage with the messages and respond positively.
“It is right that he no longer has the privilege of serving the public as a Metropolitan Police officer. This also serves as a reminder to other officers that endorsement of such abhorrent views will not be tolerated and each of us has a strict duty to do the right thing at all times.”
An investigation began after a phone belonging to former Officer A was passed to the professional standards team as part of an unconnected investigation.
The content of the phone was downloaded and analysed by specialist officers. Due to the nature of some of the images found on the phone former Officer A attended a voluntary interview on 30 October 2018.
A referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct and it was determined that the matter should be investigated locally by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards.
Following his interview, former Officer A was placed on restricted duties for the duration of the investigation, criminal trial and subsequent misconduct proceedings.
On Tuesday, 22 February Officer A appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court, the following two charges were dismissed part way through proceedings:
- Possession of an extreme pornographic image portraying an act likely to result in serious injury to a person’s private parts.
- Possession of an indecent image of a child.
He was found not guilty of the following charges:
- Two counts of possession of extreme pornographic images portraying an act of intercourse/oral sex with a dead/alive animal.