Ex-police chief banned for inappropriate conduct

Blake Neale breached standards of professional behaviour on four separate occasions

A former police chief inspector has been banned from policing after he inappropriately touched female colleagues.

Blake Neale, 42, was found to have "behaved unacceptably" and inappropriately touched women he worked with both on and off duty in 2019.

One of the allegations related to Neale distributing an image of an officer on a work related WhatsApp group without her consent.

A police misconduct hearing found he breached the standards of professional behaviour on four separate occasions which amounted to gross misconduct.

Neale has been placed on the College of Policing's barred list and would have been immediately dismissed had he not already resigned following a misconduct hearing for allegations of discreditable conduct.

An internal investigation was carried out when reports were received of Neale's behaviour in 2022 and he was suspended.

'Inexcusable'

Deputy chief constable Dave Marshall said: "There is absolutely no place within Humberside Police for anyone who believes they can behave in such an appalling and disgraceful manner towards their colleagues and peers.

"At any rank as a police officer, it is imperative we act with the utmost professionalism, respect and dignity, but in a senior position, to behave in such a lewd, discourteous and undignified way is inexcusable.

"We will not condone or tolerate this type of behaviour, which brings not only our force, but policing in general, into disrepute, simply because one individual has gravely failed to uphold and maintain the mere basic standards we expect."

Mr Marshall said the force would "continue to ensure" anyone who failed to meet its standards would be "held accountable for their actions".

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