Former Avon and Somerset policeman made 'inappropriate contact' with domestic abuse victim
A hearing's heard he sent the woman dozens of calls and texts, including from his work phone
A former police constable from Somerset has been barred from returning to policing, after regularly messaging a woman he met when she reported an abusive relationship.
The officer was found to have committed gross misconduct following a one-day hearing at Avon and Somerset Police's headquarters on Monday (December 18th).
The hearing heard the officer, who had been granted anonymity and was known only as PC X, attempted to establish a meeting with the victim, known as Mrs A, from late-2021.
They had met after he was called to a domestic incident.
Former PC X’s actions came to light when Avon and Somerset Police received a complaint last year.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who decided to take on the investigation.
The IOPC’s investigation found former PC X made 17 calls to Ms A and sent her 43 text messages from his work phone over a 10-week period, including at times while he was off-duty.
He also used WhatsApp on his personal phone to contact her, viewed her accounts on social media and twice checked her personal profile on an internal electronic recording system without a policing purpose.
PC X was found to have breached standards by discrediting and undermining public confidence in policing, honesty and integrity, in concealing the communications he had with Ms A; plus authority and respect and courtesy, in pursuing an improper relationship with a person he knew may be vulnerable to an abuse of trust and power.
The hearing heard that PC X would have been dismissed from the force, had he not already voluntarily resigned.
Detective Chief Inspector Ayesha Giles, of Avon and Somerset Police's Professional Standards Department, said:
"Ms A was a person who was in need of the police’s help. Instead she ended up receiving inappropriate contact from one of the officers who had been dispatched to provide that service.
“There can be no excuse for former PC X’s actions. He knew the potential vulnerabilities Ms A would have as a victim reporting domestic abuse, and yet still made a significant amount of contact with her, which was not required for him to professionally carry out his job.
“Former PC X chose to resign before the hearing, and did not attend it to defend his actions. It is right and proper that he is barred from serving as an officer in future.
“The outcome of this hearing reinforces our commitment to rooting out inappropriate behaviour, which has no place in policing. Public trust and confidence in policing is dependent on such robust action being taken.”