Kentish Express Ashford & District
Lying officer put public at ‘serious risk’
A volunteer police officer who lied about his qualifications to gain access to a patrol vehicle in Ashford has been found guilty of gross misconduct.
Special constable Thomas Ryder was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour at a misconduct hearing.
At the hearing at Kent Police headquarters in Maidstone, the panel heard how Ryder lied to a supervisor about his level of training on two separate occasions.
A special constable is a volunteer police officer with full police power and equipment who supports officers.
To qualify, the role requires a set amount of training, as does driving a police vehicle.
But the hearing heard Ryder gained access to a marked Vauxhall Astra at Ashford police station after lying about his qualifications to a supervisor on the night of March 13 last year.
Speaking on behalf of the authority, David Messling said Ryder “did not have – and knew he did not have – the required training and qualifications” to go out on patrol on his own.
Despite this, Ryder, who did not attend Monday’s hearing, went on to take out a marked vehicle a second time on March 19, despite having cancelled a training shift earlier that day to “attend to personal matters”.
Alarmingly, a special constable working as a dispatch officer in Folkestone noted Ryder’s number as responding to a missing person’s investigation that night – despite not being qualified to do so.
The panel decided Ryder’s actions constituted gross misconduct.
Had he not already resigned from the force on August 3, he would have been dismissed without notice.
He has now been placed on the police barred register.
Supt John Phillips said: “We have a thorough training requirement for all new recruits.
“In this case a new recruit wilfully ignored those procedures exposing the public and the organisation to serious risk.”