Ex Humberside PC barred after offensive social media posts

Daniel Whitehead, formerly of Humberside Police, shared "grossly offensive" content, a misconduct panel heard

An ex-police officer who repeatedly posted sexually explicit content on social media has been banned from serving on any force.

Daniel Whitehead, formerly of Humberside Police, had shared "grossly offensive" content on his public profile, a misconduct panel heard.

He had also shown colleagues a photo on his phone of a naked man.

Supt Andy Maultby said officers "must conduct ourselves with professionalism and integrity at all times".

Whitehead had posted the content to his social media account, where he identified himself as a police officer, between September 2021 and March 2022, the misconduct panel was told.

Supervisors repeatedly told him to stop sharing offensive material, but he ignored their requests, despite being told he was breaking standards of professional behaviour, the panel heard.

The force subsequently launched an investigation into Whitehead's actions and he resigned from his position in January.

The panel concluded his actions amounted to gross misconduct and he would have been immediately dismissed from the force if he had not already resigned.

Supt Maultby said: "Whitehead showed a complete disregard for both the public and his colleagues, choosing to continue to conduct himself in a manner that fell far below the high standards we expect of a police officer."