The misconduct hearing, held today, also found that the officer had shared an ‘offensive image’
A former detective would’ve been sacked had he not already resigned after ‘numerous racist and homophobic videos’ were found on his phone, a misconduct hearing found.
The hearing, held today, also found that former Staffordshire Police officer, DS Aaron Evans, shared an ‘offensive image’.
Investigators said Evans, who was a detective sergeant based in the south of the county, remained in a WhatsApp group where ‘racist and homophobic content was routinely shared over a prolonged period of time’.
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He was suspended in September 2023 and then resigned earlier this month.
The one-day ‘Professional Standards’ hearing, chaired by Chief Constable Chris Noble, found Evans had breached the standards of professional behaviour.
The breach amounted to gross misconduct, the hearing found.
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He will subsequently be placed on the national College of Policing’s Barred List which will prevent him from working within policing in the UK again.
Deputy Chief Constable Becky Riggs said: “The discrimination and attitudes revealed in some of these messages were completely unacceptable and have no place in policing.
“Evans would have been dismissed had he not resigned and now he will not work in policing again.
“We’re fully committed to having a police force that is anti-discriminatory and we will continue to deal with behaviour like this robustly.
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“I hope today demonstrates that WhatsApp is nowhere to hide offensive imagery and content.
“The large majority of our officers, staff, and volunteers are professional, dedicated individuals who act with integrity and work hard to keep their communities safe.”
