Skiving Leicestershire officer banned from policing
A misconduct hearing found he would have been sacked, had he not already left
A Leicestershire Police officer who manipulated his laptop so he could skive when he was supposed to be on duty has been barred from the profession.
The man, who has not been named publicly by the force for “welfare reasons”, altered the machine so the screen was always active, making it look like he was working when he was not.
A misconduct hearing into his behaviour heard that the then officer implemented his scam on 18 days in December 2023 and 12 days from Monday, January 1, to Friday, January 19, while working from home.
On one of those days, the ‘up’ button on his laptop was pressed down for a period of seven hours and 39 minutes – the longest stretch he pulled the ruse for.
This meant he did not “carry out work-related tasks during his prescribed working hours”, the misconduct panel said. It found that his conduct was “deliberate, dishonest, repeated and persistent” and done to “avoid carrying out his policing duties”.
His behaviour would also “undermine public trust” in the force, the panel ruled.
Had the former officer still been serving, only dismissal would have been an “appropriate” sanction to ensure he did not commit “future misconduct”, Leicestershire Police chief constable Rob Nixon said.
Mr Nixon also ruled that the man should be prevented from being a police officer in the future.
Mr Nixon said: “The actions of the officer are extremely disappointing. His conduct was deliberate, dishonest, repeated and persistent and not only meant that he was not providing the high service we expect for the public, but also that he was deceiving his own colleagues and supervisors. I therefore determined that the officer, who has since resigned, would have been dismissed without notice and that he should be placed on the Police Barred List.”