COPS LET OFF HOOK
»»Bad behaviour rife on WhatsApp, say lawyers
SCORES of disgraced cops are still on the beat despite being disciplined for vile behaviour on WhatsApp.
A Sunday Mirror probe reveals rogue officers sent racist, sexist and homophobic material, mocked crime victims and sent confidential information.
They include three Met officers who were let off with a written warning after sending “joke” messages about raping and murdering a crime victim, and only giving help in exchange for sex acts.
Meanwhile, two policemen face charges for allegedly swapping selfies taken with the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry, 47, and Nicole Smallman, 27, in north-west London.
But our research found just nine officers and police staff were booted out for misconduct on the phone messaging app from January 2019 to April 2021.
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And lawyer Attiq Malik, who has appeared on C4 documentary 24 Hours in Police Custody, said: “These numbers are the tip of the iceberg – cases that end with a formal hearing. Most complaints never get that far. Many others are brushed under the carpet.” Worrying incidents include: ■ An officer in Derbyshire sending explicit messages while having sex on the job. ■ Lancashire Police sacking a cop who posted “grossly offensive” and “bigoted” material. ■ An officer in Torquay sending an offensive mocked-up picture after the death of George Floyd in the US.
Our Freedom of Information Act requests reveal 84 cops and staff from 43 forces were formally disciplined.
The Met – Britain’s biggest force – had eight sanctioned for misuse. Another 65 were reported over inappropriate use.
In March, a Scotland Yard officer allegedly shared a sick graphic on WhatsApp during the Sarah Everard murder probe. The rookie was removed from frontline duties.
Police watchdog the IOPC last month warned about the inappropriate use of social media.
Mr Malik, from Liberty Law, added: “Police officers have so much power so their accountability must be that much higher but we are simply not seeing that. We’re dragging our feet when it comes to holding officers to account.
“If someone who worked for Sainsbury’s did this, you’d be amazed if they had a job to go back to. Yet in the police it’s the norm that they’ll keep their employment.
“If we are to ever improve trust and confidence in the police, the first step has to be an increased level of transparency and accountability.
“We cannot
If someone at Sainsbury’s did this you’d be amazed if they kept job... yet police do LAWYER ATTIQ MALIK ON TIDE OF WHATSAPP ABUSE BY COPS
have these closed-shop boys’ clubs where anything goes.”
Devon and Cornwall Police and the Northern Ireland force ranked joint second with seven each disciplined. South Wales Police ranked third with six probes.
In Cardiff, PC Erica Ray, 38, got a written warning in 2019 after sending a crude viral web picture of a baby to colleagues in a WhatsApp group.
Two other officers were dismissed from South Wales in 2020 – one for sending
indecent images, the other for posting lewd comments.
In September, Kent Police was told to make officers “mindful” of the potential damage to its reputation by misusing social media.
It came after Det Con Matthew Wadhams accidentally sent a racist meme to a WhatsApp group after an evening drinking. The 29-year-old dad apologised for his “stupid mistake” and was given a final written warning.
A month earlier, in August last year, colleague PC William Pope, 30, was sacked for bragging that searching women was “good fun”. He also described a suspect as an “albino tranny”, posted a string of inappropriate messages and shared crime scene photos while based with a unit in Canterbury.
In Devon and Cornwall, Sgt Geraint Jones, 47, was last month cleared of a criminal charge over his George Floyd picture shared on WhatsApp.
But he faces a police disciplinary hearing.
In Hampshire, a police chief was fired for using a slur to describe travellers in a message to a colleague. Chief Special Officer Tom Haye was dismissed for gross misconduct in February. The force also sacked officers last year after fake X-rated images of a royal were posted in a work group.
All 49 police and special police forces in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were asked for statistics – and 43 gave details. The only forces to dismiss officers for misusing WhatsApp were Cleveland, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, South Wales, Thames Valley and West Midlands Police.
Police misconduct hearings have been held in public since 2015 and are independently chaired. Sanctions range from dismissal without notice to a warning or a demotion in rank.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council insisted phone apps had brought “huge benefits to policing” and the “vast majority” used them responsibly.
Chief Constable Martin Jelley, the NPCC’s professional standards lead, said: “Unfortunately, we have seen cases where inappropriate, racist, sexist or discriminatory material has been posted or shared. It is very concerning that a small number of officers think this is acceptable.
“Policing has clear standards of behaviour and a code of ethics and we expect all officers to adhere to these.
“The misuse of social media and messaging apps is recognised as an issue and the NPCC is actively working with the IOPC to put further guidance and safeguards in place.”