Off-duty police officer identified in inappropriate online content - Leicestershire Police, January 2022

During an investigation by a different police force, two videos and 17 still images were retrieved from a suspect’s computer which appeared to show an officer engaging in sexual activity with a female.  This was evidenced by the officer wearing police issue uniform and wearing epaulettes.  He was identified to be off-duty at the time due to the date the video was created.

The officer had retired from the police force, however, he was currently employed by a different force as a police staff member.  As a result of the identification of this material, the officer was subject to a vetting review and interviewed where his vetting was revoked.  

The matter was referred to us and we undertook an independent investigation.

During our investigation, investigators reviewed the explicit video and still images and reviewed material from the former officer’s vetting review with his new police force.  The former officer was contacted and provided a written response to the allegations contained within the notice of investigation.

Our investigation concluded in October 2022 but we waited for all proceedings to conclude before publishing our findings. 

Our investigation found that the officer would have had a case to answer had he still been serving, however, under the new former officer procedures, this went to a special determination decision. Our decision maker considered on the basis of the evidence that the special determination conditions were not met and the matter should not proceed to a gross misconduct hearing.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. 

In this case, the investigation has not identified any learning.