A second officer, who featured in the video, has also been dismissed.
asserted
who → feature → video
Police Ombudsman Jacqui Durkin has described the behaviour of the two former Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers towards vulnerable people they had been tasked to assist as “utterly despicable”.
asserted
they → describe → people
An ombudsman investigation found that Police Officer A recorded videos and took pictures of people who had requested police assistance, reported crimes, were intoxicated or considered at risk of self-harm.
asserted
who → find → harm
The videos and images were captured in people’s homes, in hospitals and in police vehicles, Ms Durkin said.
asserted
Durkin → capture → vehicles
Some were shared on WhatsApp, including with a member of the public – often accompanied with sexualised and derogatory commentary.
asserted
Some → share → commentary
The ombudsman said 18 people were identified as having been referenced in messages, videos and photographs found on personal mobile phones belonging to Officer A between 2016 and 2021.
asserted
people → say → 2016
The second officer, Police Officer B, took photographs of two vulnerable women, which he then shared with Officer A along with messages which referred to the women in derogatory terms.
asserted
which → take → terms
The ombudsman said in June 2021 the two officers had been tasked to the home of a woman with learning difficulties and mental health needs after a report of a concern for her safety.
asserted
officers → say → safety
A video made by Officer A showed the woman in bed in her nightwear with Officer B standing at the foot of the bed.
asserted
B → make → bed
The report said Officer A asked a “highly inappropriate question” using a slang term apparently relating to the woman’s sex life.
asserted
A → say → life
After this Officer B shouted a comment and invited her to repeat it.
asserted
B → shout → it
The ombudsman said the woman responded by holding up her electronic tablet and advising that she was recording the officers.
asserted
she → say → officers
Officer A stated that they were having “craic” and told the woman to “lighten up”.
asserted
they → state → woman
When shown the video by Police Ombudsman investigators, the woman said she had been unaware that she was being filmed and felt “disgusted”.
asserted
she → show → investigators
Ms Durkin said: “Such behaviour from police officers tasked to assist a vulnerable woman at a time of distress is reprehensible.
“Recording a video while making sexualised comments to a vulnerable woman who was in bed in her nightwear was hugely inappropriate, a gross intrusion of her privacy and an affront to her dignity.
asserted
who → say → dignity
“They demeaned her for their own amusement.
asserted
They → demean → amusement
“It would be hard to imagine behaviour further removed from the care and compassion required by police officers in such a situation.”
asserted
It → imagine → situation
The ombudsman said the same two officers had also been involved in an exchange of photos and messages on WhatsApp in November 2020.
asserted
officers → say → November
Officer B was in the home of one of two women who had reported an assault and theft.
asserted
who → report → assault
While speaking to the women, who were known to have vulnerabilities, he took photos of them and sent them to Officer A.
The ombudsmen said the pictures were accompanied with messages, some of which were of a sexual nature and contained derogatory terms about both women.
asserted
some → speak → women
When interviewed, Officer B stated that he was a junior officer and pointed out that Police Officer A was his Probationary Support Officer.
asserted
A → interview → ?
He said he was “trying to fit in” and would not have acted as he had if he had not met Officer A.
Photos, videos and messages relating to another 15 members of the public Officer A had encountered during his duties were found on his current personal mobile phone and a previous device.
asserted
A → say → phone
Five of the people were photographed or recorded while in hospital.
asserted
Five → photograph → hospital
They included a woman the officer had encountered numerous times in relation to incidents of self-harm and concerns that she might take her own life.
uncertain
she → include → life
The ombudsman said in June 2019, while he had been detailed to escort the woman to hospital, he sent a picture of her to a member of the public along with details of her medical condition.
asserted
he → say → condition
The officer recorded two videos of another woman he had been tasked to locate after she had left hospital while being treated following an overdose.
asserted
she → record → overdose
The ombudsman said she was at the time attached to a drip, and the videos were recorded without her knowledge.
asserted
videos → say → knowledge
After learning about the videos, the woman told ombudsman investigators said she had been at the lowest point of her life and was angry.
asserted
she → learn → life
Another woman, who has not been identified, was photographed in a hospital bed with a police officer sitting in a chair beside her, and a man was pictured talking to a police officer in a hospital waiting area in 2018.
asserted
man → identify → 2018
In another photograph, a man considered to be at risk of self-harm was pictured lying across chairs in a hospital waiting area.
asserted
man → consider → area
The ombudsman said other material included a video of a woman, recorded at a time when she was abusing alcohol and drugs.
asserted
she → say → alcohol
The report said a further five videos found on Officer A’s phone featured an elderly and apparently vulnerable man, filmed in his home and in a street from a police car.
asserted
videos → say → car
They show the state of the man’s living conditions and included the officer making comments about his sex life.
Two separate videos were recorded of women who had been involved in a neighbour dispute, one of whom was intoxicated.
asserted
one → show → whom
Both were unaware that they had been recorded.
asserted
they → record → ?
Photographs of a further two men were sent in messages, one with a mocking commentary about a man who appeared to be sleeping in the rear of a police car, and another in which a derogatory term was used to refer to a man photographed lying across chairs.
asserted
term → send → chairs
The ombudsman said the officers’ behaviour emerged during an investigation into an allegation in 2021 that Officer A had abused his position for a sexual purpose by establishing a relationship with a woman he had met on duty.
asserted
he → say → duty
The officer was arrested by Police Ombudsman investigators and his home and workplace were searched and electronic devices were seized.
asserted
devices → arrest → investigators
While the initial investigation into the alleged inappropriate relationship led to no action being taken against him, the discovery of material on his personal phones prompted a number of investigations.
asserted
discovery → allege → investigations
These included a Police Ombudsman investigation which established that 74 police officers, including Officer A, had accessed police body-worn video footage without any legitimate reason for doing so.
asserted
officers → include → reason
The PSNI took management action against all 74 officers.
asserted
PSNI → take → officers
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
