Former Leicestershire police officer who lied about crashing drone guilty of gross misconduct
A former Leicestershire Police[1] officer lied three times about damage caused in drone crash, a misconduct hearing ruled. Kenneth Fricker, who has since left the force, was flying the force drone at the scene of a serious traffic accident on the M6 at Catthorpe on Friday, October 14, last year when he crashed it.
He then lied to colleagues three times about how the damage to the drone occurred. A misconduct hearing, held last week, found the dishonesty amounted to gross misconduct and concluded that had Mr Fricker still been working for the force, he would have been dismissed without notice[2].
Mr Fricker first told a colleague he had broken a propeller on the drone by catching it on a police van when sliding its tray back into its compartment, but had then replaced it. The next day, he said the damage, which also included cracks to the sensor bar, module base and antenna module, had been caused as a result of dropping the drone when carrying it to the van.
On the same day, he told another colleague he had dropped it when getting it out of the van. The force said the damage had occurred due to his handling of the drone.
Mr Fricker submitted a written statement ahead of the hearing admitting his actions and expressing remorse for them.
The hearing also heard that the drone’s footage had been deleted, allegedly accidentally, but ruled that “on the balance of probabilities” this showed “intend to cover up the original incident”. Chief Constable Rob Nixon chaired the hearing. He said the “continued nature” of the “deceit” were “aggravating factors” in the case.
These “fundamental breaches of of honesty and integrity are of such a nature to undermine trust and confidence in policing”, the hearing report, signed by the chief constable, stated. Mr Fricker’s actions also “undermined” his relationship with and the trust of his colleagues, it added, and “placed a fellow drone pilot in a situation where he may [have needed] to deploy a drone with undisclosed damage”.
However, the report also noted Mr Fricker had been a serving officer for almost 20 years and had served Leicester and Leicestershire “extremely well during his long career”, with this incident being “out of character”. It was also acknowledged his dishonesty was “motivated to avoid criticism, embarrassment and guilt” not “for personal or financial gain”.
Mr Nixon said: “The actions of former PC Fricker fell below the standards which are expected of police officers and amounted to gross misconduct. His actions undermined the relationship and trust with his colleagues and compromised the integrity of records. This placed a fellow drone pilot in a situation where they may have needed to deploy a drone with undisclosed damage.
“While I accept the actions of former PC Fricker were motivated in order to cover up a mistake and avoid criticism, it is rightly expected that an officer would tell the truth from the outset, irrespective of the circumstances. Former PC Fricker has admitted his actions and apologised for this and I feel disappointed to lose an officer of former PC Fricker’s experience.
“As I have previously stated, building and maintaining trust and confidence in our force remains a priority and we will continue to challenge any unacceptable behaviour which does not meet the professional standards which are rightly expected from us.”
References
- ^ Leicestershire Police (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
- ^ dismissed without notice (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
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