Complaint regarding inappropriate contact from a PCSO - Cleveland Police, May 2019

In May 2019, a Police and Community Safety Officer (PCSO) from Cleveland Police visited two people following a report of a dispute between the two neighbours. After an additional report was made, the PCSO and a colleague made a further visit and advised both parties.

Later the same day, the PCSO emailed one of the parties from their personal email account while off duty. The recipient felt that the email was inappropriate and may have been an attempt to instigate a personal relationship with them and made a complaint to Cleveland Police. Cleveland Police referred the matter to us as a complaint and we decided to undertake an independent investigation.

Our investigators interviewed the PCSO and obtained statements from several witnesses, including the complainant and the PCSO’s colleagues. We reviewed all email contact between the complainant and the PCSO. We also obtained and reviewed local and national policies and procedures, and relevant documentation from Cleveland Police.

Based on the evidence available we were of the opinion that the PCSO may have a case to answer for misconduct. We completed our investigation on 27 January 2020.

After reviewing our report Cleveland Police agreed. The PCSO attended a misconduct meeting in summer 2020 and was given a written warning