Inappropriate conduct during course of duties - Greater Manchester Police, May 2021

A complaint was made by a member of the public who alleged that she developed a parental-type relationship with a Greater Manchester Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) who she met during the course of his duties. 

She described receiving a phone call from the PCSO, in which he stated, “you don’t want sex do you, but I do”. She said the PCSO claimed he would no longer support her, and their friendship ended as a result of the phone call. 

During the investigation, we interviewed the officer, obtained his phone records, and obtained statements from several witnesses.

Our investigation concluded in June 2023.

We concluded the officer had a case to answer for misconduct. 

A misconduct meeting concluded the PCSO was found to have breached the standard of professional behaviour, ‘Honesty and Integrity’, and he was issued a verbal warning that will be in place for six months.

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, we did not identify any organisational learning