Victory for transparency Sacked officer is named
APOLICE officer granted anonymity despite being sacked without notice for gross misconduct can today be named – in a victory for the Post.
As we reported on Monday, PC Kevin Curd was dismissed following a police misconduct hearing before Avon & Somerset Chief Constable Sarah Crew who imposed reporting restrictions including banning his identity from being published by the media.
We challenged this decision as an unnecessary affront to transparency because only in rare and exceptional circumstances should a cop accused of wrongdoing have their name withheld from public scrutiny. Now Chief Constable Crew, the force’s top officer, has taken further legal advice and agreed that PC Curd, based in Somerset, should be named.
In a statement yesterday afternoon, the force said: “An accelerated misconduct hearing was held on Friday, November 4, in which a serving officer was dismissed without notice for gross misconduct and added to a national barred list, preventing him from working in policing or other law enforcement agencies again. Before the hearing, Chief Constable Sarah Crew decided it should be held in public, for the reasons of openness and trans
parency.
“A misconduct notice was issued on the Avon & Somerset Police website, naming the officer as PC Kevin Curd. When the hearing started, it became clear that details of the allegations would identify and adversely impact on vulnerable people not named in the original hearing notice, including juveniles, and the Chief Constable imposed a restricted reporting order as a proportionate response to prevent this from happening.
“In a subsequent public statement giving details of the hearing outcome, the officer’s name was withheld, resulting in a media outlet challenging this decision. The Chief Constable has listened to the concerns raised and has sought further legal advice.
“The advice has determined that while further details of the allegations cannot be released to protect the identity of third parties, this does not mean the officer had to be anonymised.”
It added: “Rooting out officers who betray the professional standards expected of them is of paramount importance if we are to restore and uphold levels of public trust and confidence in policing.
“Holding hearings in public is a crucial part of this process. The presumption is always that a misconduct hearing, or a special case or accelerated hearing, should be held in public, to ensure we’re as open as transparent as we can be, and there is clear accountability around the decisions made, either by a panel led by an independent Legally Qualified Chair, or in the case of an accelerated hearing, in front of a Chief Constable.”
The statement said allegations of gross misconduct against PC Curd were proven and he was sacked without notice. “The hearing was told that while off-duty, PC Curd had looked up details of two call logs on police systems in March of this year, without having a legitimate reason to do so,” it said.
“The contents of one of the call logs was then disclosed to a third party outside of the force without a policing purpose.” The proven allegations relate to the inappropriate accessing and disclosing of data held on police systems, and there is no suggestion the officer engaged in any form of discriminatory behaviour or abuse.