A police officer from Staffordshire has been dismissed without notice after a disciplinary hearing found she had ignored an order to stop contacting a member of the public. PC Lucy Rowe was ordered to cease all contact with a person ‘due to concerns relating to conflict of interest arising from their association’.
But following an investigation by Staffordshire Police’s Professional Standards Department, the police constable, who was based in south Staffordshire, was found to have maintained contact and also let the member of public into her home. In addition she did not report the contact she had made with the person, to her supervisors.
At the accelerated misconduct hearing heard on Thursday, December 19, PC Rowe, did not attend and was found to have committed ‘gross misconduct’. She was found to have had breached the standards relating to honesty and integrity and orders and instructions.
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PC Rowe was dismissed without notice. Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police, Chris Noble, who chaired the misconduct hearing panel, said PC Rowe had a ‘laissez-faire approach’ to her conduct which the police chief said was ‘intentional’.
The Chief Constable said: “PC Rowe was fully aware of the importance of a Risk Management Plan relevant to her contact with an individual which was agreed to and signed by PC Rowe. PC Rowe then went on to clearly, frequently and deliberately breach the Risk Management Plan on numerous occasions, in a wilful manner.
“I consider the culpability to be high in this case. PC Rowe is not an inexperienced Officer and has worked in other Police Forces. I consider her conduct to be intentional and indeed evidenced a laissez-faire approach, with her conduct, namely breaching a Risk Management Plan conducted in full public view.
“Real operational harm could have been caused and it would be impossible to know what inappropriate conversations have or would take place between PC Rowe and the individual in question. PC Rowe determined not to have contact with this individual and therefore the potential of actual harm being caused was real and substantial.
“There was a very real risk to police information, investigations and potentially public safety all of which was created by the officer wilfully disobeying a lawful order in relation to contact between PC Rowe and this individual.”
PC Rowe was said to have had ‘prolonged’ contact since 2022 which was an aggravating factor. The Chief Constable said: “PC Rowe deliberately chose to keep the true nature of the relationship with the Individual secret.”
She added: “It is very clear that in policing, some relationships cannot be created or sustained if officers wish to join and/or remain in policing. PC Rowe had many opportunities to make choices, either to step away from the relationship or policing, she made neither choice.”
Rowe will be placed on the national College of Policing’s Barred List, preventing her from working within policing and other law enforcement bodies. Deputy Chief Constable Jon Roy said: “We expect the highest standards of integrity and conduct from our officers.
“We continue to make clear the level of conduct required, to make it easier for our officers to report misconduct and to search out and remove those unsuitable to work at Staffordshire Police, and subsequently other forces.”