Originally published in The Times newspaper on Tuesday June 10th 2014
The number of police officers facing disciplinary action for offensive or inappropriate commentary on social networking sites such as Facebook has increased up to fivefold, figures show.
Police officers have tweeted or posted comments about ongoing criminal investigations or revealed details of police operations, while some made derogatory comments or were caught in inappropriate photographs.
A Freedom of Information request sent to 28 forces across England and Wales revealed that the number of incidents had increased in the past five years.
Almost 90 officers faced disciplinary hearings over the issue last year, amounting to a fivefold increase across the forces — although some were unable to provide statistics dating back to 2009. A total of 519 incidents was reported between 2009 and 2014. Essex police refused to give figures.
The Metropolitan police, the country’s largest force, recorded the highest number of complaints since 2010, with 71 officers facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Allegations were made about oppressive behaviour, discrimination, failures in duty and incivility. The majority related to officers rather than staff, of which 28 were substantiated and 22 complaints were dismissed. Other matters are ongoing. A string of officers avoided disciplinary action by resigning or retiring, two were dismissed and 12 were given written warnings.
The figures predate a Met constable who was fined £6,000 at Westminster magistrates’ court last month after admitting that he sent pornographic videos and pictures to colleagues using the social networking app WhatsApp while working in Downing Street.
Greater Manchester police has dealt with 39 incidents since 2011. They included officers placing BodyCam images on social networking sites, making jokes about incidents on Facebook, posting “sensitive information” online and making abusive remarks.
In Cheshire, a PC made a derogatory comment about a person’s business, while a Gloucestershire officer was given a final written warning for “sending unwanted messages and images via Facebook”. A Sussex police officer was disciplined last year after calling fracking protesters “scum” on Twitter. Clare George-Hilley, director of the Parliament Street think-tank, which compiled the information, said: “Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook play a vital role in tackling crime and building community relations. However, these findings demonstrate a haphazard approach to social media.”
A spokesman for the Met said it was important to note that the number of allegations was an “extremely small proportion” of the workforce.
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