Gross misconduct proven for South Yorkshire cop accused of having 'racist & discriminatory' phone content
He resigned before the misconduct hearing
A South Yorkshire Police officer accused of being in possession of ‘racist, derogatory and discriminatory’ images and messages would have been sacked had he not resigned, a misconduct hearing has found.
An accelerated misconduct hearing was held for former South Yorkshire Police constable Bradley Cross on May 30, 2024, after he was accused of retaining ‘images and messages on his personal mobile phone which are racist, derogatory, and discriminatory’.
The conduct was alleged to have taken place between September 2023 and January 2024, when Mr Cross was a serving officer with the force. He subsequently resigned from his position, prior to the misconduct hearing taking place.
Gross misconduct was proven at the conclusion of Mr Cross’ hearing, after the panel found that he had breached expected standards of professional behaviour.
Documents concerning the panel’s findings, which have been published by South Yorkshire Police state: “The panel found that the officer breached the standards of professional behaviour in respect of the above allegations, and that the breaches amounted to gross misconduct.
“The outcome of the hearing was that the officer would have been dismissed without notice had he not previously resigned.”
South Yorkshire Police’s guidance on misconduct hearings state that they should be heard by a panel of three people that should be chaired by an independent legally qualified person chosen from a pool held by the local policing body.
The other panel members should be an ‘officer of at least the rank of Superintendent and an independent lay person, selected from an approved list held by the local policing body’.