Dorset Police officers found guilty of gross misconduct over racist messages and bullying
They shared racist, sexist and homophobic messages
Two serving police officers and a former officer who shared racist, sexist, homophobic or inappropriate messages, bullied, and behaved in a derogatory manner, have been found guilty of gross misconduct.
A tribunal found Inspector Nicholas Mantle, Pc Mark Jordan-Gill and former Pc Paul Perdrisat had breached Dorset Police's professional standards between 2018 and 2021, meaning the serving officers could be sacked.
Pc Michael Lowther and Pc Matthew Young, who also misbehaved, were found guilty on Friday of misconduct, with the former issued a written warning and the latter handed a final written warning.
They were all part of the specialist Force Support Group (FSG) based at Bournemouth that a colleague, named only as Pc A, called "toxic" because of the "bullying environment".
Pc A said during the tribunal their treatment of him left him considering suicide.
He described Perdrisat as the "alpha male" and said: "I challenged Pc Perdrisat and took him to one side. 'Why are you doing this?' And he said to me, 'By picking on the weakest link we get rid of them'."
Describing the group's behaviour, Pc A said: "Whatever we did was not good enough. They just chipped away - the team, Pc Perdrisat, Pc Jordan-Gill, a little bit by Pc Lowther and Pc Young."
He added: "I didn't want to wake up in the morning. I thought about taking my own life."
Pc A said homophobic comments were made in the office, adding: "I was astounded at professional police officers being homophobic."
Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the force, told the Winfrith hearing the officers also posted or failed to challenge items posted in a WhatsApp group called "The Real FSG".
He said: "Some can be described as sexist, pornographic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, bullying, offensive and otherwise inappropriate.
"The officers who posted should not have done so in the first place.
"They should have been challenged and they should have been stopped.
"The officers should have left the group and reported the group."
Mr Ley-Morgan said the messages were in breach of the force's social media policy and would discredit the force because "a member of the public would be justifiably appalled" by the images and "by the officers finding them humorous".
The officers were accused of making discriminatory comments and putting up an inappropriate calendar - given as a secret Santa gift - as "wall art" in their office.
Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya, Dorset Police's lead for professional standards, said after the hearing: "Any behaviour demonstrating traits of prejudice/negative bias against a person will not be tolerated in our organisation and, as this case has demonstrated, we will swiftly and robustly investigate any offences reported to us."
She added: "The public quite rightly expect the highest standards of behaviour from serving police officers and staff as this is a core component of maintaining the trust of our communities. I am sorry that the behaviour of these officers let you down.
"We are committed to investigating any unethical or unacceptable behaviour relating to a member of our organisation and I would encourage you to report them to the force so they can be thoroughly investigated."
Police and crime commissioner for Dorset David Sidwick said: "I welcome the panel's decision.
"The sanctions that have been placed on the officers that have been found guilty of misconduct are appropriate in light of the evidence that was put before the panel."
Inspector Mantle, Pc Jordan-Gill and Perdrisat will find out the sanctions they will receive at a panel on a future date, with dismissal a possibility.