A Somerset Police officer who behaved inappropriately towards colleagues has been dismissed this week without notice following a misconduct hearing.
The hearing, which was held at Police Headquarters, heard that the officer, named only as PC H during a misconduct hearing, had breached the standards of professional behaviour through his behaviour towards at least four female colleagues.
The hearing was chaired by an independent Legally Qualified Chair.
Det Ch Insp Ayesha Giles, of Professional Standards, said: “The behaviour carried out by this officer towards his colleagues was inappropriate, unprofessional and unacceptable. It made his fellow officers feel deeply uncomfortable and they showed dignity and courage in speaking out about how his actions had affected them.”
“Behaviour like this has no place in policing – because everyone who works for Avon and Somerset Police deserves to be treated with respect by their colleagues.”
“We hope the outcome of this hearing demonstrates our ongoing commitment to rooting out misogynistic behaviour like this.”
“It’s important for all police officers and staff to know that reports of inappropriate behaviour are taken extremely seriously, and full and thorough investigations will result when complaints are made.”
The hearing was told PC H did not treat colleagues with respect and courtesy by acting inappropriately towards them:
- in relation to one colleague (Officer A), this included pretending to cut her hair, touching her face mask repeatedly, hugging her despite her not consenting, holding her hand, putting his hand on her shoulder and telling her he loved her;
- in relation to another colleague (Officer B), this included making comments about her personal appearance, sending her text messages to say he loved her, following her around the police station and telling her he had a “really nice dream” about her;
- in relation to a third colleague (Officer C) this included coming up behind her and giving her a cuddle, commenting on her appearance and making her feel uncomfortable;
- in relation to a fourth colleague (Officer D), this included touching (for no good reason) the torch on her body armour which was positioned at chest height;
- in relation to a number of female colleagues, this included touching their hair as they sat in the police station.
He will now be placed on the College of Policing’s Barred list to prevent him working in policing or other law enforcement agencies in the future.
