Officer abused his position to look up case where he was the victim

An officer breached strict policing standards by accessing information about an incident where he was the victim.

PC Joseph Barker broke the rules by repeatedly using the police system to look up details about an assault on him that was under investigation.

The former officer intervened in an incident whilst off duty and was assaulted as a result, with an investigation launched when PC Barker reported what happened.

Despite receiving regular updates from the officer in the case, PC Barker kept using the crime recording system to look through materials that he shouldn’t have.

This included accessing information about the suspect’s arrest record, the incident log, his own witness statement, and CCTV footage.

In total, the officer searched for information relating to the incident on 28 separate occasions, between March 2022 and February 2023 – despite having no policing reason to do so.

He also used the force’s digital evidence management system to watch video footage of the assault both the day after the incident (12 March 2022) and on 6 May 2022.

PC Barker also used his personal phone to record a video showing parts of the CCTV footage.

Another officer became aware of the video in November 2023, at which point PC Barker admitted how it had got there, and a Professional Standards Directorate (PSD) investigation was launched.

By that stage, a suspect had been charged in connection with the assault on the former officer, and criminal proceedings were later discontinued, partly as a result of his actions.

His decision to access the information he did without having a valid policing purpose was deemed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to have impacted upon the credibility of the case, with the charges dropped as a result.

With the officer having already resigned, PC Barker attended a gross misconduct hearing at Sherwood Lodge, Nottinghamshire Police’s Headquarters, on Thursday (12 September).

In advance of this, he admitted to breaching three standards of professional behaviour – confidentiality, discreditable conduct, and orders and instructions – but denied it amounted to gross misconduct.

The hearing, which was chaired by Nottinghamshire Police's Chief Constable Kate Meynell, aimed to establish whether the officer's actions amounted to gross misconduct. 

It was made open for both the public and the media to attend.

At the hearing, PC Barker said he had been "naïve" in doing what he did and that he was "truly sorry", but claimed he'd made a "genuine and honest mistake".

After listening to all the evidence, CC Meynell concluded that the officer had indeed committed gross misconduct, and he would've been dismissed, had he still been working for Nottinghamshire Police. 

Chief Constable Meynell said: "The public are right to expect that personal data held on police computer systems is treated in the strictest confidence and only accessed for genuine policing reasons. 

"Aside from being a victim, PC Barker had no involvement in this investigation, and so had no right to log into the force's crime recording and digital evidence management systems and search for what he did. 

"As outlined during this hearing, accessing confidential information without a valid policing reason is an abuse of an officer's position.  

"We take protection of our data extremely seriously as a force, and will not accept general curiosity as a reason for breaching these strict policing standards."