A ‘predatory’ female police officer who tracked down a crime scene witness for dates and posed in her uniform on dating apps has been barred from employment by the force.
The 27-year-old constable had abused her position by intentionally taking a barman’s personal details at the scene of a public order incident, despite the man not having directly seen the event.
A Hampshire Police misconduct panel heard how she then tracked the barman down to arrange a date.
The officer had also previously been warned about her wearing of her official police uniform in various social media posts and had even posted pictures in it to the dating app Tinder.
The hearing was informed that the officer, known only as PC A, had been granted anonymity because identifying her would ‘substantially hinder her mental health’.
On PC A’s Tinder profile, her in-app bio prompted potential matches by saying: ‘Looking for a slightly mentally unstable wife?’
Following the conclusion of the investigation into the conduct of the officer, it was ruled that had PC A not already quit the force, that she would have been sacked.
PC A had served for Hampshire Police for roughly four years in the Portsmouth area prior to her resignation.
During the misconduct hearing, it was heard that PC A had been ‘spoken to at length’ by Hampshire Police’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) after she shared images of herself and colleagues in uniform on Tiktok.
It was PC A’s opinion that she had not done anything wrong on this occasion, stating that her ‘opinion of what is offensive differs from that of the ACU’, however she did formally acknowledge that she would adhere to their social media policies.
The incident involving her taking personal details of a member of the public at a crime scene occurred in May 2022, when she encountered a barman known as ‘Mr X’ at Fareham Rugby Club.
PC A obtained Mr X’s date of birth and phone number, before later organising dates with him.
The hearing was told of their ‘brief sexual relationship’, and how a colleague then ‘challenged’ her over the incident.
As a result of the altercation, PC A reported herself to police authorities, but ‘deliberately negated to provide full and accurate details as she knew the interaction and behaviours are wrong’.
Police officers are strictly prohibited from abusing their roles as a police officer for a sexual purpose.
Speaking before the hearing, Detective Inspector Simon Clifford of the ACU stated that the subsequent investigation unearthed further concerns over PC A’s usage of dating apps.
DI Clifford told the hearing that the images and bio used by PC A on the app portrayed the police service in a poor light.
He added the PC A claimed the images of her uniform were uploaded to her profile so that ‘anyone who hated the police or was involved in crime would know her job and wouldn’t contact her’.
The detective inspector then stated that PC A’s behaviour displayed an ‘incredible sense of naivety and lack of awareness’, along with a demonstrated ‘failure to learn’.
Following her arrest, a search of her car at a hotel car park in Bournemouth, Dorset, found that in her boot PC A had a canister of pepper spray – which is classified as a firearm. She said she forgot to remove it from her vest when she finished work prior to the arrest.
The hearing also heard how PC A had taken photos on her phone showing ‘operational policing activity and personal data information about members of the public’. She claimed it was normal practice to use personal phones as work phones cannot take clear photos.
Leading the hearing was Deputy Chief Constable Samantha de Reya, who concluded that PC A ‘has breached the standards of conduct and behaved in a manner that discredits the police service’.
In addition to ruling that PC A would have been dismissed had she not resigned, DCC Reya placed the officer on the Police Barred List for five years.