Thames Valley Police officer dismissed for sending 'racist and offensive' texts - but force refuse to name them

The former officer, known as Officer A in the proceedings after they were granted anonymity following legal representations, was found guilty at a special case misconduct hearing chaired by Chief Constable Francis Habgood at the force’s headquarters earlier this week.

Officer A was found to have breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour after they sent racist and offensive text messages which were shared with members of the public.

Despite multiple requests from this newspaper, police refused to name the officer or specify the reason for them being granted anonymity.

This newspaper has now put in a Freedom of Information request to get the name of the officer as we believe it is in the public interest.

Following an investigation in which the former officer’s mobile phone was examined by investigators it was found to contain a number of racist and offensive texts which were shared with members of the public on various dates between 1 April 2017 and 15 January 2018.

Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Ward, head of professional standards for Thames Valley Police said: “The texts sent were racist, offensive and very unpleasant.

"They undermine the excellent work carried out by hard-working police officers every day and we are resolute in our determination to expose the minority of our staff who hold such views and behave in this way.

"The public can be reassured that there is no place for people who behave like this in policing.”

Chief Constable Habgood concluded that due to the severity of the offences had the officer not resigned, they would have been dismissed from the force.