Police officer misused radio and IT systems

Nicholas Peel worked for Thames Valley Police from 1997 until late last year

A Thames Valley Police (TVP) officer used his work-issued radio to tune into other forces' channels despite being on a final written warning, a misconduct hearing heard.

Nicholas Peel, who was a police constable and based in Newbury, Berkshire, worked for the force from November 1997 until he retired in December 2024.

Chief constable Jason Hogg was told Mr Peel used his radio improperly between December 2022 and April 2023, despite being given a final two-year written warning for an unrelated matter in February 2023.

Mr Hogg found Mr Peel committed gross misconduct and he would have been sacked had he not retired.

The hearing also heard Mr Peel improperly accessed TVP's IT systems and hugely exceeded the data limit on his work-issued mobile phone, both while on sick leave.

Emma Chandler, from TVP, said Mr Peel was signed off due to ill health between October 2023 and May 2024.

But she said from December 2023 to February 2024 he accessed a TVP IT system 146 times and changed at least four entries.

Mr Peel was also found to have accessed another system 14 times and watched clips, including dashcam and body-worn footage, which related to offences including assault, dangerous driving and assaults on police officers.

He did not have any policing purpose to carry out these searches or watch the videos, Mr Hogg was told.

The misconduct hearing was told TVP officers are expected to use a maximum of 2 GB of data a month on their work-issued mobile phones.

But he was found to have used 305.6 GB in December 2023, 278.3 GB in January 2024 and 273.3 GB in February 2024.

Mr Hogg said all of Mr Peel's actions "fell below" the standards expected and the conclusion that he would have been sacked showed "improper behaviour will not be tolerated" by TVP.