Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said everyone employed by the PSNI must understand the importance of professional standards and a respectful workplace culture.
Two PSNI officers have been dismissed from the force over ‘abhorrent’ behaviour towards female colleagues.
The officers were dismissed on Thursday, May 28, following Special Case Hearings conducted by the Chief Constable after behaviours they demonstrated were identified as ‘abhorrent and completely dismissive’ of any respect towards colleagues in the workplace.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher outlined his commitment to having only the highest standards of professional behaviour in the PSNI at a recent meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
Mr Boutcher said everyone employed by the PSNI must understand the importance of professional standards and a respectful workplace culture. Head of Professional Standards branch, Chief Superintendent Stephen Murray said: “One of the male officers was dismissed after being convicted of two counts of sexual assault against a female colleague. These occurred during social events whilst the officers were off duty – and consisted of non-consensual sexual touching of a female colleague’s buttocks.
“This was determined by the Chief Constable to be gross misconduct and the officer was dismissed from the organisation. A second officer, in a separate case, faced internal misconduct proceedings following unacceptable behaviour during a work night out.
“The male officer made a sexualised comment towards a female colleague, and groped the buttock of another female colleague.
“This represented a serious breach of professional standards, and risked significant damage to confidence in policing. The Chief Constable determined this behaviour to be gross misconduct and this officer was also dismissed. The officer had been previously found guilty of sexual assault, in a criminal court, in respect of the same incident.”
Chief Superintendent Murray continued: “These dismissals demonstrate that sexual misconduct, misogyny and sexist behaviour have no place in the Police Service of Northern Ireland and reflect our zero-tolerance approach to this type of behaviour.
“We recognise the significant harm that sexual misconduct, harassment, misogynistic and sexist behaviour can cause to victims, individuals, teams and public confidence.”
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