Inappropriate relationship with person encountered as part of policing role and duties - Suffolk Constabulary, March 2019

A serving police officer with Suffolk Constabulary was informed by a friend that they had begun an intimate sexual relationship with a police officer who they had met when they responded to a report of an incident of domestic abuse.

On 9 May 2019, the officer reported this matter to her supervisor and Suffolk Constabulary referred this case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) as a mandatory conduct matter.

The basis of this investigation was the allegation that a police officer began an intimate sexual relationship with a person whom they had met as part of their policing role, when they had attended the person’s home in March 2019, responding to a report of domestic violence.

During our investigation, we interviewed the officer in relation to allegations of Misconduct in Public Office and Abuse of Position for Sexual Purpose. We also examined mobile phones and obtained statements from several witnesses including police officers. Statements were also obtained from the vulnerable DV victim, and their mobile phone messages were downloaded.

In our opinion the police officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct and Suffolk Police agreed with our opinion. They arranged a misconduct hearing. The officer resigned and left the force on 30 March 2020 before the hearing which took place on 7 May 2020. At the hearing, gross misconduct was proven and the officer would have been dismissed if they had still been a serving officer. They were also placed on the Police Barred List.

Throughout this investigation, we carefully considered whether there are any opportunities for learning or improvement. In this case, we did not identify any learning opportunities.