A POLICE sergeant, who was based at Grays, has today been dismissed from Essex Police for gross misconduct.
A panel, chaired by Assistant Chief Constable Matthew Horne, found that the officer had breached expected standards for Honesty and Integrity, and for Orders and Instructions, and was also guilty of Discreditable Conduct.
The allegations involved the officer accessing police intelligence and ANPR systems for a non-policing purpose and instructing officers to carry out duties which did not have a policing purpose.
In dismissing the officer from the Force, ACC Horne said: "We know that, in policing, information and intelligence can be readily accessed and it often contains sensitive personal information or intelligence that can help prevent and solve crime.
"The people of Essex have every right to expect us to use this information to keep them safe. They trust us to do so. Such information must only ever be accessed for a proper policing purpose. In the overwhelming majority of cases this policing purpose is clear and if officers and staff are ever in any doubt whatsoever they can speak with a supervisor.
"This was an experienced officer and by accessing information systems without a policing purpose he knew that if he was discovered his actions would be likely to result in gross misconduct proceedings and potentially end his career.
"In this case it was necessary to do so to maintain public confidence in policing. To misuse police information in this way strikes at the very heart of policing by consent.”
