Three former Isle of Wight police officers have been found guilty of gross misconduct.
One was dismissed and the other two would have been if they hadn’t already resigned.
PC Jonathan Walldock, former PC Daniel Whiting, and former PC Nicholas Dove attended a report of a robbery.
On returning to the station, they were overheard making inappropriate, homophobic and discriminatory comments about the robbery victim.
None of the officers challenged the offensive comments.
The making of inappropriate, homophobic and/or discriminatory comments breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in relation to Authority, Respect and Courtesy, Equality and Diversity and Discreditable Conduct.
Failing to challenge or report the officer(s) breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in relation to Challenging and Reporting Improper Conduct and Discreditable Conduct.
There was a further allegation against PC Dove that he made inappropriate offensive, sexual and homophobic comments while attending to someone who was reporting a crime.
The panel found the gross misconduct was proven, and PC Walldock was dismissed, and that the other two, former PCs Dove and Whiting, would have been had they not already resigned.
Assistant chief constable Stuart Murray told the County Press: “Such discriminatory and derogatory language and behaviour has absolutely no place in policing and it is deeply upsetting that these officers felt they could act in such a way.
“Our chief constable has made it very clear that victims should be at the very heart of everything we do and what happened in this case clearly goes against this.
“As the panel found, regardless of who said what, they were all part of the conversation and at no point did one of them do what is expected of them and challenge the obviously offensive comments being made.
“There is no excuse for this and we all have a responsibility to take action against those who corrupt policing with such hateful and unacceptable behaviour.
“We want our officers and staff to know they will be supported when they stand up and do the right thing to report such matters because none of us want this within our force.
“It damages the public’s confidence in us and undermines the great work being done every day by our teams to make our communities safer.
“We want our communities and those working within our ranks to know we are taking robust action when it comes to tackling misconduct to ensure there is no place for this type of appalling behaviour within our force.”
(Source: County Press)
