Three Metropolitan Police officers who made light of a serious sexual assault allegation and made inappropriate and offensive jokes in a WhatsApp group chat have been given final written warnings.
Pcs Alexander Higgs and Charlie Cano and a third officer, known only as Officer A, were found to have committed gross misconduct in the messages on the social media platform where they made “discriminatory and derogatory comments” about members of the public, women, Muslims and people from other minority groups.
In a report following a misconduct hearing published on Monday, the trio were criticised for the “inappropriate, stupid, childish, boyish” language used in their messages, sent between February and May 2020.
Tackling violence against women and girls is a core objective of the Metropolitan Police Service and your making light of the allegation seriously undermines this effort and could significantly harm the trust and confidence in the service
In one incident, Pc Cano referred to a female member of the public who had complained about his handling of her case and called her “a moany c***”.
Pc Higgs responded by saying: “Can we go round to her house and set fire to it?”
It was accepted that there was no plan to set fire to the house, but the report said it portrayed a “wholly unacceptable” attitude to victims of crime.
All three officers were found to have engaged in a derogatory joke about getting access to the full police national computer (PNC) if they “sucked off” an inspector and made light of a serious allegation of sexual assault by another serving police officer.
Laurence Taylor, the assistant commissioner in professionalism at Scotland Yard, said in his report that the way the three officers made light of the allegation indicated they did not take the complaint or complainant seriously.
“Tackling violence against women and girls is a core objective of the Metropolitan Police Service and your making light of the allegation seriously undermines this effort and could significantly harm the trust and confidence in the service,” the report said.
Pc Higgs and Officer A were given a final written warning to last five years.
Pc Cano was given a final written warning to last three years.
