Monday, November 14, 2022
A toxic culture
Wales-on-line has picked up on this story in the Times, on how the contents of a dead police officer's phone has unveiled a tocic culture in the Gwent Police force.
The Times says that WhatsApp and Facebook messages on the phone show Gwent police officers openly discussing the sexual harassment of junior female colleagues; racist, homophobic and misogynistic abuse; the leaking of sensitive police material; and corruption.
The Times says that WhatsApp and Facebook messages on the phone show Gwent police officers openly discussing the sexual harassment of junior female colleagues; racist, homophobic and misogynistic abuse; the leaking of sensitive police material; and corruption.
They add that in September, two Gwent police chiefs were dismissed for gross misconduct after a junior female officer was groped at a party for the outgoing chief constable in 2019. A third would have been dismissed had he still been a serving officer. But the mobile phone reveals such behaviour to be the tip of the iceberg for a force of 1,300 officers, covering an area of 600 square miles of southeast Wales.
The Chief Constable says that "The content shared with us paints a picture of a toxic culture which does not represent the majority of our service. We have also made it clear that those who do not uphold these standards have no place in Gwent police — or in policing.”
The Chief Constable says that "The content shared with us paints a picture of a toxic culture which does not represent the majority of our service. We have also made it clear that those who do not uphold these standards have no place in Gwent police — or in policing.”
Of course, we only have her word for it that this abuse is limited to a minority of officers. There is no way that we can verify that statement without a comprehensive investigation by an independent body with full access to all the facts. The details published in the Times though, are very disturbing:
Jones and his former colleagues regularly shared pornographic videos and images of naked women. The Sunday Times tracked down several former female officers. “We call it the boys’ club,” said one. “It’s like a mob mentality. People say the police are racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Gwent police tick every box.”
Perhaps the most offensive exchanges were sent to Jones by a retired sergeant we are calling Officer A, who spent 30 years in the force and will receive a large police pension.
Officer A messaged Jones about a mutual friend — a traffic cop caught having sex with another officer while on duty: “He has been shagging on duty and it’s been recorded on his tetra [police radio] mate,” he wrote. “Didn’t he learn anything from me at all?? I thought I taught him well and how not to get caught.”
In 2018 and 2019 Officer A sent a number of racist images to Jones, mostly about Muslim women. A picture of Grenfell Tower on fire is titled “The Great Muslim Bakeoff”. In May 2019 Officer A sent Jones a racist image about the new royal baby.
In another exchange, on Facebook Messenger, Jones is discussing a possible divorce. Officer A offered him help in carrying out a possible fraud, saying he had done the same in the past for a Gwent police chief.
“I didn’t realise things were so bad,” Officer A wrote in December 2019. “If you need to hide some money, I will look after it or open an account for you in my name if you want. I did it for (name of senior Gwent police officer).” Hiding money from a partner during divorce is fraud and can be punishable by a custodial sentence.
Jones shared regular messages with his friend Clarke Joslyn, who served in the Gwent force for 26 years and carried out public order training with new recruits.
In November 2018 at a misconduct hearing female officers gave evidence of domineering, controlling and physically abusive behaviour by Joslyn, then aged 46.
He resigned from the police before the hearing was completed, but the panel determined that he would have been dismissed.
The Times records that when a former partner, who was a serving officer, reported Joslyn for abuse, the police later dismissed her on a data protection breach. Gwent police arrested her at home in front of her neighbours and searched her house. She was never charged. The paper lists other incidents where female officers were targeted within the force.
Wales-on-line reports that Gwent police, which covers Newport and Gwent, has been at the centre of allegations about behaviour within its rank for a number of years:
In September three senior members of Gwent Police were found to have committed behaviour amounting to gross misconduct. Former Gwent Police chief superintendent Mark Warrender was found to have committed gross misconduct by "inappropriate touching" while he and two senior colleagues were found to have held an "inappropriate conversation" with a more junior member of staff as a police social event and “failed to challenge and report” the alleged improper behaviour of others in that conversation.
Warrender and colleagues chief superintendent Mark Budden, who held the role of acting assistant chief constable, and chief inspector Paul Staniforth faced allegations of gross misconduct which they each denied. All officers have been barred from policing. Their disciplinary hearing was held in private with only basic details shared with the public despite the overwhelming public interest in s spotlight being thrown on the culture at the force.
All the evidence points to a force that is not fit for purpose, is not safe for female officers and where many officers are abusing their position. The question has to be asked as to why management has allowed this toxic culture to persist for so long, where is the Chief Constable in all this and what has the Police and Crime Commissioner been doing to stop it?
Jones and his former colleagues regularly shared pornographic videos and images of naked women. The Sunday Times tracked down several former female officers. “We call it the boys’ club,” said one. “It’s like a mob mentality. People say the police are racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Gwent police tick every box.”
Perhaps the most offensive exchanges were sent to Jones by a retired sergeant we are calling Officer A, who spent 30 years in the force and will receive a large police pension.
Officer A messaged Jones about a mutual friend — a traffic cop caught having sex with another officer while on duty: “He has been shagging on duty and it’s been recorded on his tetra [police radio] mate,” he wrote. “Didn’t he learn anything from me at all?? I thought I taught him well and how not to get caught.”
In 2018 and 2019 Officer A sent a number of racist images to Jones, mostly about Muslim women. A picture of Grenfell Tower on fire is titled “The Great Muslim Bakeoff”. In May 2019 Officer A sent Jones a racist image about the new royal baby.
In another exchange, on Facebook Messenger, Jones is discussing a possible divorce. Officer A offered him help in carrying out a possible fraud, saying he had done the same in the past for a Gwent police chief.
“I didn’t realise things were so bad,” Officer A wrote in December 2019. “If you need to hide some money, I will look after it or open an account for you in my name if you want. I did it for (name of senior Gwent police officer).” Hiding money from a partner during divorce is fraud and can be punishable by a custodial sentence.
Jones shared regular messages with his friend Clarke Joslyn, who served in the Gwent force for 26 years and carried out public order training with new recruits.
In November 2018 at a misconduct hearing female officers gave evidence of domineering, controlling and physically abusive behaviour by Joslyn, then aged 46.
He resigned from the police before the hearing was completed, but the panel determined that he would have been dismissed.
The Times records that when a former partner, who was a serving officer, reported Joslyn for abuse, the police later dismissed her on a data protection breach. Gwent police arrested her at home in front of her neighbours and searched her house. She was never charged. The paper lists other incidents where female officers were targeted within the force.
Wales-on-line reports that Gwent police, which covers Newport and Gwent, has been at the centre of allegations about behaviour within its rank for a number of years:
In September three senior members of Gwent Police were found to have committed behaviour amounting to gross misconduct. Former Gwent Police chief superintendent Mark Warrender was found to have committed gross misconduct by "inappropriate touching" while he and two senior colleagues were found to have held an "inappropriate conversation" with a more junior member of staff as a police social event and “failed to challenge and report” the alleged improper behaviour of others in that conversation.
Warrender and colleagues chief superintendent Mark Budden, who held the role of acting assistant chief constable, and chief inspector Paul Staniforth faced allegations of gross misconduct which they each denied. All officers have been barred from policing. Their disciplinary hearing was held in private with only basic details shared with the public despite the overwhelming public interest in s spotlight being thrown on the culture at the force.
All the evidence points to a force that is not fit for purpose, is not safe for female officers and where many officers are abusing their position. The question has to be asked as to why management has allowed this toxic culture to persist for so long, where is the Chief Constable in all this and what has the Police and Crime Commissioner been doing to stop it?
