Investigation into digital images and messages of an inappropriate nature that were shared by a police officer with colleagues – North Yorkshire Police, November 2021

On 30 November 2020, North Yorkshire Police (NYP) arrested a police officer for serious criminal allegations against his ex-partner. As part of the police investigation, NYP seized the officer’s mobile phone for analysis in relation to the allegations against him.

Subsequent analysis of the mobile revealed the officer, and two of his work colleagues, participated in exchanging inappropriate messages, images and a video clip via WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

The information obtained from the mobile phone included details that the three officers had shared, commented on, or viewed messages containing content that was assessed as discriminatory and offensive. The information also included details that the three officers had shared or viewed a video clip categorised as extreme pornography.

We finalised our investigation in July 2022.

During the investigation, there was an indication that two police officers may have behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence.

The first police officer received a five-year prison sentence for controlling and coercive behaviour towards his ex-partner. This was dealt with by the police, not the IOPC. It was during the police investigation that the inappropriate messages and images were discovered, and a referral was made to us. Following the conclusion of the criminal trial, the officer resigned from the police before our investigation concluded. Given the prison sentence, and the officer’s resignation, the matters of our investigation were not progressed. 

The second police officer attended a misconduct meeting where he received a final written warning.

The third officer went through the reflective practice review process (RPRP) with his line manager.

An officer reflecting on their actions is a formal process reflected in legislation. RPRP consists of a fact-finding stage and a discussion stage, followed by the production of a reflective review development report. The discussion must include:

• a discussion of the practice requiring improvement and related circumstances that have been identified, and
• the identification of key lessons to be learnt by the participating officer, line management or police force concerned, to address the matter and prevent a reoccurrence of the matter.

We waited for all associated proceedings to be finalised before publishing our findings.

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.