Police Officers Exposed For Making 'Sickening' And Sexual Comments About Women

A BBC investigation has exposed three Thames Valley Police Officers for making sexual and "sickening" comments while watching body-worn video footage of a woman having a seizure.

The investigation also found that the male officers, employed at Newbury Police Station, watched the body-cam footage without reason.

Nazir Afzal, the ex-Chief Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service called the incident "a horror story of misogyny and sexism" that will "massively" damage the public's confidence in policing staff.

After reporting the three Police Constables to senior staff members, a student officer was dismissed – says the investigative BBC report.

The video footage showed an anonymous woman suffering from a seizure. As she was convulsing, her body, particularly her groin, became exposed.

The BBC investigation found that, before being recorded on the body camera, the woman was arrested and had her movement limited in leg restraints.

The woman's condition seemed vulnerable, as she was vomiting and losing consciousness throughout the arrest.

The investigation said that, after being accused of committing an assault, the woman had been arrested, handcuffed and placed in a van by the student officer and two colleagues.

While being transported to a police station, the woman suffered a seizure – which was when her groin and other parts of her body became exposed.

The officers redirected the van to the hospital, where the woman was "street bailed" and left to be seen by medical professionals.

After returning to Newbury Police Station, a female officer, who saw to the woman's arrest, watched the body-cam footage at her desk.

While watching the footage, the BBC findings said that three of her male colleagues gathered around her computer and made "sickening" comments.

In the student officer's witness statement, while he was also in the room, he heard the male constables say that the woman had "crusty" or "manky" breasts. Another officer asked to see the woman's "minge".

While the officers used derogatory language to describe the woman's body, a fourth male colleague started a discussion about how much the officers would need to be paid if they were to have sex with the convulsing woman.

After watching CCTV footage from the place of the woman's arrest, the officers soon found that the woman was entirely innocent and had been the victim of an assault instead.

The student officer, who reported on his colleagues, has since spoken out against Thames Valley Police, saying that the force purposely covered up the misconduct and failed to tell the female victim or policing regulator about the incident.

Considering the officers knew the woman by name, the student officer told reporters: "I just thought: 'This is a victim of crime, a person who we know to be vulnerable.' How can you talk about someone like that?"

"The fact I had to weigh up reporting what I saw against keeping my career is a disgrace," he added.

While Thames Valley Police said that the student officer was fired for an "entirely separate" matter, the student officer believes that he "was dismissed for reporting misconduct - there's no doubt in my mind".

Standing by his decision to report the crime, the student officer said: "If I'd ignored what I saw that would have made me a corrupt officer."

While policing protocol tells Thames Valley Police to report the case for independent scrutiny and further investigations, none of the police officers were met with a misconduct hearing.

In light of the BBC's findings, the police force has since said that the remarks were "unacceptable" and the three police officers have been sanctioned.

After the whistleblowing report emerged, Thames Valley Police told the BBC that it was grateful that the student officer had reported the misconduct and that the student has since been given new employment at a different police station.