Complaint of inappropriate relationship between an officer and an elderly woman - Derbyshire Police, July 2017

A complaint was made in July 2017 that a Derbyshire Police officer had pursued an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable elderly woman whom he had met in the course of his duties as a community beat officer. It was alleged the officer had subjected the woman to financial and emotional abuse.

The evidence obtained by the investigation indicated that the officer had become involved with the woman’s financial matters, including withdrawing cash with her debit card on her behalf. In addition, the officer became involved with some of her accounts and was aware of large amounts of cash on the premises.

During the investigation, our investigators took statements from family members and neighbours. They also interviewed the officer and examined his bank accounts examined.

We found insufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal could find that the officer had acted in a way meant to exclude friends and family from contact with the woman, as had been alleged. There was also insufficient evidence upon which a resonable tribunal could find that the officer had befriended the woman for financial gain.

We found no evidence of dishonesty on the part of the officer. However, we were of the opinion that the officer had put himself in a position of compromise by the way in which he had befriended an elderly lady, and had then gone on to have involvement in her finances.

In our opinion, based on the evidence available, there was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable misconduct meeting could find that the actions of the officer had breached the standards of professional behaviour, and that he may have a case to answer for misconduct. We concluded our investigation in July 2018.

After reviewing our report, Derbyshire Police agreed with our opinion.The officer was found guilty of misconduct at a misconduct meeting and received a final written warning. He subsequently resigned from the force.