Gross misconduct proven against former West Midlands PC who formed inappropriate sexual relationship

A disciplinary panel has ruled that a former West Midlands Police constable would have been dismissed for abusing his position for sexual gain, had he not already resigned. Today’s (5 July) hearing, organised by the force, followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The hearing, conducted by West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford, heard evidence that PC Richard Bracey formed an inappropriate sexual relationship with a woman he met through the course of his duties. The disciplinary panel was told that messages were exchanged between them over the next few weeks before they slept together on one occasion.

Gross misconduct was proven against the officer who resigned last month. He will also be added to the barred list preventing him from working for the police in future after he was found to have breached professional standards of behaviour for authority, respect and courtesy, discreditable conduct; and duties and responsibilities.  

The IOPC began an investigation in July 2021 after a referral from West Midlands Police about the officer’s conduct and a complaint was subsequently made about him.

During our enquiries, we found evidence that PC Bracey began contacting the woman after responding to a report of domestic abuse in December 2020. They exchanged more than 100 messages over the next ten days before he switched to using his personal phone. Some of the messages were of a sexual nature and sent while the officer was on duty.

At the end of our investigation in July last year (2022) we found that PC Bracey had a case to answer for gross misconduct.

IOPC Regional Director Derrick Campbell said: “Where an officer has used their position to pursue a sexual or improper emotional relationship with a member of the public, this represents an abuse of authority for sexual gain.

“Such conduct can cause substantial damage to public trust and confidence in the police and is particularly serious where the subject of the officer’s behaviour is targeted towards a vulnerable person.

“That was an aggravating feature in this case and there is also evidence that PC Bracey knew what he was doing was wrong and discussed that with the woman concerned. He confessed to his line manager when he became aware a complaint would be made but when we interviewed him, he refused to comment or provide a statement.

“The outcome of today’s hearing serves to highlight that such behaviour will not be tolerated and has no place in policing.”

During our investigation we analysed billing and downloaded messages from the officer’s work phone, interviewed the woman concerned and reviewed a statement provided by PC Bracey’s line manager concerning the disclosures made to him.