West Midlands Police officer sacked for gross misconduct

An officer who inappropriately accessed police records more than 2,000 times has been sacked for gross misconduct.

A West Midlands Police misconduct hearing acknowledged PC Shannon Parsons felt "isolated and disconnected" due to working part-time and returning from maternity leave, but had breached standards of professional behaviour.

Parsons had claimed there was a policing purpose to her searches, the panel said, and was seeking to "keep herself up to date, informed and was often in a position to support and assist other colleagues in operational matters".

However, chair of the panel Debra Tedds concluded the searches were carried out for the officer's "own personal benefit".

As a result, Parsons was dismissed without notice and barred from future work in policing.

The searches took part over a period of about five years, the panel heard, and many included incidents near her home address.

Parsons had an otherwise unblemished career in policing in the West Midlands, lasting 13 years, but was said to show no insight or remorse "as to the potential harm that has been caused by accessing the amount of information over a significant time period," according to the panel's report.

"I do not believe the officer's conduct was targeted, however I do believe that it was deliberate and intentional and by her own admission had become a habit in between shifts," Tedds said.

"Policing holds a significant amount of information about members of the public of which most of it is sensitive."

She added that some of the incidents accessed by Parsons were are "of the most sensitive and hold intimate information involving some of the most serious crimes".

Tedds said: "I have determined that the access was for personal use. Under no circumstances should anyone access or use police information for personal reasons.

"Accessing confidential police information without a legitimate policing purpose is an abuse of an officer's position."

She concluded that amounted to a significant breach of trust, likely to cause a loss of public trust and confidence in the profession.

However, she added there was no evidence to suggest any of the information accessed by Parsons had been passed to a third party.

"I accept that PC Parsons felt isolated and disconnected from policing and her team working part time, returning from maternity leave, and working from home as she described," she said.

"I accept the officer's submission in relation to her difficult personal and medical circumstances at the time and seeking to reintegrate herself back into policing after her maternity leave and absence."

Nevertheless, she found the allegations were proven and that Parsons had failed to treat sensitive policing information with respect.

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