Six police officers and ex-officer under investigation over ‘derogatory’ WhatsApp messages

A criminal investigation has been launched into the conduct of six serving and one former police officer over "derogatory" messages shared in a WhatsApp group, a watchdog has said.

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) officers are being investigated for offences under the Communications Act after allegedly sending "grossly offensive messages", the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

These include five working CNC officers, one former CNC officer now working with another force, and another former CNC officer.

All seven people are also under investigation for potential gross misconduct, the IOPC said.

The IOPC said it reviewed messages shared within the group and identified a significant number of those messages to be of a “discriminatory, derogatory or pornographic nature”.

This follows referrals from the CNC and a force in the south west of England.

IOPC regional director Catherine Bates said: “The allegations against these officers and a former officer are extremely serious and concerning.

“On conclusion of our investigation we will decide whether the matters should be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), whose role it is to determine whether criminal charges will follow.

“As this work is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

The CNC is the armed police force in charge of protecting civil nuclear sites and nuclear materials in England and Scotland.

The force said that five serving police officers have been suspended while the IOPC carries out its investigation.

Chief constable Simon Chesterman , from the CNC, said: “As I am sure you can appreciate this is a live investigation and I am limited in what I can say at this stage as we must ensure it remains a fair and independent process.

“This is the latest in a number of cases where serving or former police officers are accused of displaying offensive and discriminatory behaviour, which damages public trust in policing and the credibility of the police service.

“Those who hold and display racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic or any other views that are discriminatory have no place in the police service and they will be rooted out.”