Two county police officers caught up in social media
A LEICESTERSHIRE Police officer was investigated for inappropriate use of social media after sharing “provocative videos” while in uniform on TikTok in 2020.
The officer’s account also included a link to an Amazon “wish list”– a means by which people solicit gifts from online followers.
Meanwhile, a second officer was also investigated in 2020 due to concerns they had sent a “potentially indecent image” to a colleague via Facebook Messenger.
The two cases came to light after a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request by The Times, which revealed that hundreds of police officers and staff across the country have been investigated for social media abuse.
The investigated incidents included racism, homophobia and grooming, the newspaper reported.
The FOI request revealed the two Leicestershire Police constables were investigated for inappropriate use of social media in two cases since 2018.
Both officers received written warnings.
Their cases were among at least 195 similar investigations across UK forces in 2020.
It comes as police conduct remains under scrutiny by the public and media after two Metropolitan PCs were jailed for taking and sharing photographs of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in the capital.
The sisters were stabbed to death in north-west London in June last year. Two police officers, Pcs Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, were supposed to guard the scene, but instead took photos and shared them in WhatsApp groups for their own amusement. Both were jailed in December
The murder of Sarah Everard by former police officer Wayne Couzens
also raised serious questions about police conduct and public trust in forces across the country.
Couzens falsely arrested Ms Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, as she walked home in south London in March last year. After the kidnap, he raped and then strangled her.
A Leicestershire Police spokesman said the force would not give any further details of the two 2020 investigations, as the cases were “no longer contemporaneous”.
The spokesman said: “In relation to the allegation involving Facebook Messenger, it was originally determined by investigating officers that the action amounted to gross misconduct.
“However, following a misconduct hearing, a panel determined the officer’s actions amounted to misconduct, and not gross misconduct. In relation to the allegation involving Tik Tok, a misconduct meeting was held in-force.
“The outcome in each case is determined in line with the Police (Conduct) Regulations, Home Office guidance and College of Policing guidance.”
Investigations that determine an officer’s actions to amount to gross misconduct are usually heard in the public domain unless any specific exemption is made.
Those that determine misconduct, in contrast, are dealt with via a meeting internally in force. Repeat violations are dealt with via the same process of investigation followed by a meeting or hearing with previous conduct taken into consideration.