A FORMER Thames Valley Police officer allegedly sent flirty and sexual messages to a ‘vulnerable’ colleague who had attempted suicide weeks earlier.
The ex-officer, who has been anonymised by a TVP report, is set to appear before a misconduct hearing next month.
According to Thames Valley Police, the officer may have been in breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.
Should the allegations against the officer be proven, he would have been dismissed had he still been serving.
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It is alleged that the former officer contacted a female PC offering his support and assistance after she attempted suicide in February 2021.
He continued to speak with her over the next few weeks, including after she had a ‘crisis’ in mid-March.
“He knew, or ought to have known, that she was vulnerable”, a TVP report read.
A few days later the officer invited the woman to use an app called Signal so they could have ‘confidential chats’.
She downloaded the app and the ex-officer then proceeded to send her ‘a series of inappropriate, flirty and/or sexualised messages’, the report added.
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It continued: “The Force considers that such conduct amounts to a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour in relation to Discreditable Conduct in that it is conduct which would be likely to bring discredit upon the police service and damage public confidence in it.
“It also amounts to a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour in relation to ‘Authority, Respect and Courtesy’ in that his conduct towards a colleague was wholly inappropriate.
“An aggravating factor of his conduct is that he was in a position of trust. If such allegations are proven, they are considered to amount to gross misconduct, namely a breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour that is so serious that, had he still been serving, his dismissal would have been justified.”
The public misconduct hearing will take place on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 December 2021 at TVP’s headquarters in Kidlington.
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