Final warning for PC who opened adult's custody record
A West Mercia Police officer has been handed a final written warning for accessing arrest records that had no relevance to her role.
PC Jessica Hindley was part of the Criminal Justice Youth Offending Team, a force-wide role that involves working with young people aged between 10 and 17 who have come to the attention of police.
While on a rest day, PC Hindley conducted a search for recent arrests at a police division.
The search produced 27 custody records, but none involving youths, the only group that West Mercia Police says were relevant to her duties.
Among the results was the custody record of an adult arrested the previous day. Within moments, PC Hindley opened and viewed that record and its contents, despite having no legitimate policing purpose to do so.
PC Hindley was asked to account for her access to the custody record and was instructed to respond within seven days. She stated she had been conducting routine checks for youth-related arrests as part of her duties, and believed she must have opened the record in error.
Police chiefs said her explanation was false, as she already knew the custody record did not – and could not – relate to a youth arrest.
A two-day hearing was held at West Mercia Police’s headquarters in Hindlip, Worcestershire. It was found that confidentiality standards, and orders and instructions were breached. However, it was determined that PC Hindley’s actions only amounted to misconduct, and not gross misconduct.
She was subsequently handed a two-year final written warning.
