Derbyshire officer 'used police database to find woman on Instagram'

The officer is accused of breaching profeessional standards by using the database for a personal and non-policing reason

A police officer sent a heart-eyes emoji to a woman on Instagram and used a confidential database to track her down, a misconduct panel has heard.

PC Jack Harrison is alleged to have followed the woman in his patrol car from a Co-op store in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, after attending a call-out in 2021.

The officer is said to have started following the woman on the social media app later that day.

PC Harrison denies any wrongdoing.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the allegations were laid out by David Ring, a legal representative for Derbyshire Police, at the start of a three-day misconduct hearing at the force's headquarters in Ripley.

The officer is alleged to have followed the woman in his patrol car from a Co-op store in Wirksworth

The incident is alleged to have happened in September 2021 when the Matlock-based officer was making policing inquiries at the Co-op store in Harrison Drive.

It is alleged PC Harrison followed a woman's car in his police vehicle after seeing her leave the store but did not force her to stop or make any contact with the driver.

The hearing was told the officer then carried out a Police National Computer (PNC) check on the woman's car.

The PNC is a national database of information for police officers, enforcement agencies and other UK bodies, and provides basic information about the owner of a vehicle.

It is claimed the officer used the information he found on the PNC check to then follow the woman on Instagram, as her name would have been listed on the database.

But this is denied by PC Harrison who claims he followed her on Instagram as she came up as a "suggested follower".

'Weird and creepy'

According to Mr Ring, PC Harrison has claimed he had followed the car because he felt the driving was suspicious and believed it may have been stolen.

When the woman found out she was being followed by PC Harrison, it is claimed she realised that the officer had, months before, made contact by sending her a flame emoji to one of her Instagram stories.

It is claimed the police officer had also sent her another emoji of a face with eyes as hearts as a reaction to another post she had made.

The woman complained to Derbyshire Police that PC Harrison's alleged actions on the day of the incident were "weird and creepy".

The misconduct hearing is being heard at the force's headquarters in Ripley

An independent panel must decide if the allegations, on the balance of probability, are a true record of events.

If they are true, then the panel will then decide an appropriate punishment for the officer - should the allegations be found to be a misconduct offence.

The hearing continues.