Four British Transport Police officers sacked over offensive WhatsApp messages

Two former British Transport Police (BTP) officers would have been dismissed if they were still serving for sharing offensive messages in a WhatsApp group, following a gross misconduct hearing.

It follows our investigation into allegations that six officers had shared or failed to report or challenge inappropriate messages.

Two of the officers from the group were previously dismissed following an accelerated misconduct hearing in January and a fifth officer received a final written warning for misconduct in June.

On Wednesday (12 Nov), the case was found proven that former police sergeant Trevor Waller and former officer B had breached the police standards of professional behaviour relating to: integrity; authority, respect and courtesy; equality and diversity; orders and instructions; confidentiality; discreditable conduct; and challenging and reporting improper conduct.

In January PC Joe Le Cappelain and former PC Jack Hunter were dismissed following an accelerated misconduct hearing. They were also criminally investigated for potential offences under the Communications Act and, at the end of our investigation, we sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service which decided not to charge.

A fifth officer, a PC, was given a two-year final written warning at a misconduct meeting in June. A sixth officer we investigated, a former PC, was found to have no disciplinary case to answer.

Our independent investigation, which focused on messages exchanged between April and August 2023, began following a voluntary conduct referral from BTP in October 2023.

It looked at allegations that six officers in a WhatsApp group had shared or failed to challenge or report the messages to senior colleagues.

Some were offensive, discriminatory and derogatory and included remarks about vulnerable members of the public - including those experiencing mental health crises - and fellow officers.

Sensitive operational matters were also discussed in the group, contrary to BTP policy.

IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: “Some of the messages uncovered in this investigation were not only unprofessional but discriminatory, and entirely inappropriate. We also found there was a failure to challenge or report inappropriate messages among the officers involved.

“The public rightly expect officers to be held to a high standard and they must be held to account when their conduct falls far short of what is acceptable.”

The panel determined the comments ‘demonstrated an abject failure to treat vulnerable individuals with respect or courtesy.’

During the investigation, which concluded in October 2024, investigators reviewed both the screen recordings and phone download of this WhatsApp group chat, interviewed the police officers under investigation, obtained and reviewed applicable policies and obtained statements from several witnesses.