Recommendations - Northumbria Police, March 2021
The following learning was identified from an investigation where several retired and serving Northumbria Police Officers posted inappropriate or abusive comments. This was on a social media platform following the death of Mr George Floyd in the United States and the subsequent Black Lives Matter campaign.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
The IOPC recommends that Northumbria Police take steps to ensure all officers and the wider organisation conform to the expectations of their behaviour under the Code of Ethics, whilst on and off duty, and promote a safe and open culture, which makes clear to officers and staff that they are duty bound to challenge and report behaviour that does not align with this Code. This includes challenging and reporting inappropriate posts on social media.
This follows an IOPC investigation where number of officers posted inappropriate Facebook posts in the wake of Mr George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter protests. One officer made a series of inappropriate posts that went unchallenged by his colleagues. There was no challenge to any of the posts by any of the officers involved. The Code of Ethics states that police officers (or anyone working for the police service) should behave in a manner which does not discredit the police service or undermine public confidence in it, whether on or off duty. It expects police officers to maintain the highest standards of behaviour and always think about how a member of the public may regard that behaviour. The Code of Ethics also requires officers to use social media responsibly and safely and ensure that nothing published online can reasonably be perceived by the public or policing colleagues to be discriminatory, abusive, oppressive, harassing, bullying, victimising, offensive or otherwise incompatible with policing principles.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
This incident was highlighted by officers and a robust response was put in place, including a referral to the IOPC.
As part of the immediate response internal communications were disseminated throughout the organisation regarding the use of social media and the requirement to challenge and report inappropriate posts.
Initial communications were disseminated on 12th August 2020 and 16th March 2021 within the Force “In The Know” bulletin.
Follow up communications were disseminated on 22nd March within the Northumbria Police “The Standard” bulletin.
At conclusion on the Misconduct Hearing a further update will be provided to officers and staff to provide additional detail about this incident. This will include further messaging incorporating the recommendation made.
The IOPC recommends that Northumbria Police take steps to ensure all officers and staff are complying with the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Guidelines on the Safe use of the Internet and Social Media by Police Officers and Police Staff 2013, which is signposted from the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice. They should also make clear to officers and staff that information posted on their private profiles on platforms such as Facebook should conform to these Guidelines.
This follows an IOPC investigation where an officer posted inappropriate content on Facebook that could have been perceived as racist and discriminatory and inflammatory and a number of other officers posted inappropriate comments on various Facebook posts that were offensive. The Guidelines state that police officers and police staff are advised not to make any comment or post any images of behaviour on the internet or social media which are, or could reasonably be perceived to be, beliefs or conduct that are contrary to the expectations of behaviour outlined in Schedule One (Code of Conduct), Regulation 3, Police (Conduct) Regulations 2004.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
This incident was highlighted by officers and a robust response was put in place, including a referral to the IOPC.
As part of the immediate response internal communications were disseminated throughout the organisation regarding the use of social media and the requirement to challenge and report inappropriate posts.
Initial communications were disseminated on 12th August 2020 and 16th March 2021 within the Force “In The Know” bulletin.
Follow up communications were disseminated on 22nd March within the Northumbria Police “The Standard” bulletin.
At conclusion on the Misconduct Hearing a further update will be provided to officers and staff to provide additional detail about this incident. This will include further messaging incorporating the recommendation made.
The IOPC recommends that Northumbria Police take steps to ensure all officers and the wider organisation conform to the expectations of their behaviour under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010, whilst on and off duty, and promote a safe and open culture which makes clear to officers and staff that they are duty bound to challenge and report behaviour that does not align with this legislation.
This follows an IOPC investigation where officers failed to consider how their potentially homophobic, racist, derogatory and offensive Facebook comments could create an intimidating, hostile, degrading or offensive environment to other police officers and staff. They also failed to consider how this behaviour could cause significant harm to public confidence in Northumbria Police and the wider police service. Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010 states that person A harasses another if they engage in unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic, with the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading or offensive environment for person B.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
This incident was highlighted by officers and a robust response was put in place, including a referral to the IOPC.
As part of the immediate response internal communications were disseminated throughout the organisation regarding the use of social media and the requirement to challenge and report inappropriate posts.
Initial communications were disseminated on 12th August 2020 and 16th March 2021 within the Force “In The Know” bulletin.
Follow up communications were disseminated on 22nd March within the Northumbria Police “The Standard” bulletin.
At conclusion on the Misconduct Hearing a further update will be provided to officers and staff to provide additional detail about this incident. This will include further messaging incorporating the recommendation made.