A former Bedfordshire Police special constable has been officially ejected from the force after admitting to tracking her partner’s vehicle on police systems.
After an investigation by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Professional Standards Department in 2018, Sophie Fletcher admitted to repeatedly searched ANPR data on a partner’s vehicle with no policing purpose and accepted a criminal caution.
This week, at a special case hearing at Bedfordshire Police HQ on 12 June it was ruled that if she had not already resigned, she would have faced instant dismissal.
Chief constable Jon Boutcher chaired the misconduct hearing and formally dismissed Fletcher.
“This entire matter is about the trust of the public in their police officers and members of police staff to conduct themselves professionally, and discharge their responsibilities properly,” he said.
“The responsibility we bear in managing systems and personal data comes with high expectations from the public, our communities and our partners, and breaching such trust is detrimental to these relationships.
“I have no choice but to come to a determination of dismissal without notice, I simply cannot permit you to remain in the service with any risk of further misuse.
“We have a duty to handle access to such information responsibly and appropriately and should only utilise systems and data for the right and proper reasons.”
