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Gross misconduct has been proven against a former West Midlands Police constable who sent inappropriate messages to a woman he had arrested. An investigation was carried out by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after the woman made a complaint.

At a hearing organised by West Midlands Police recently (Tuesday 14 January), allegations were found proven. The independently chaired disciplinary panel concluded the officer would have been dismissed had he still been serving. The former officer was found to have breached police professional standards for honesty and integrity; authority, respect and courtesy; and discreditable conduct.

The former constable cannot be named in connection with the proceedings, due to a ruling made by the panel beforehand. 

The IOPC’s investigation began in May 2021, after a woman complained about remarks the officer had made about her appearance, which she considered were inappropriate. These comments had been made at her home when she was arrested, and later via WhatsApp. Evidence we gathered found that he had sent messages to the woman from his personal phone, and included comments about pictures she had posted of herself on social media.

IOPC Regional Director David Ford recently said:

“Police policy and guidance makes it clear officers should not establish or pursue an improper sexual or emotional relationship with a person with whom they come into contact with during the course of their work, and who may be vulnerable to an abuse of trust or power”.

“When we interviewed the officer, he agreed the messages he sent amounted to inappropriate contact, both in their content, and because the woman was under investigation at the time. He accepted that he had ‘crossed the boundary’ and he has now rightly been held accountable for that.”

The former officer’s name will now be added to the barred list, preventing him from future employment with the police.

During the IOPC’s investigation, which ended in November 2022, we reviewed screen shots of the messages sent by the former officer, took a statement from the complainant and studied relevant force policy and guidance.