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Police officers share dozens of photos of dead bodies and crime scenes [1]
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Date: 2023-08
UK police officers have shared dozens of unauthorised photos of dead bodies and crime scenes on messaging services such as WhatsApp in recent years, openDemocracy can reveal.
In the first analysis of its kind, we found a catalogue of misconduct cases in which disturbing images were sent to cops’ friends, family and colleagues.
They include a Derbyshire Constabulary officer who received several images of a body and showed them to other colleagues in a parade room.
In another case last year, a Leicestershire PC took a photo of a detainee “who had soiled himself”. The officer was not sacked, with the force simply encouraging him to “learn from reflection”.
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And in Essex, a police officer shared images of a vulnerable child under police protection with their girlfriend. Again, the PC responsible avoided action because he resigned before misconduct meetings took place.
In total, there have been at least 45 cases since 2015 where police officers were accused of taking unauthorised photos of bodies, crime scenes, victims of crime and detainees, according to freedom of information (FOI) responses.
But that number could be higher as some police forces claimed it would cost too much to answer openDemocracy’s questions. One police force said it could “neither confirm nor deny” whether any of its officers had been caught sharing pictures of bodies and crime scenes.
And although 13 officers were sacked or dismissed, many were allowed to keep their jobs while four simply resigned without facing any disciplinary action.
Police forces have come under increased scrutiny over the conduct of their officers since the murder of Sarah Everard, who was killed by a serving policeman, Wayne Couzens, in south London.
Officers were also discovered to have taken and shared photographs of sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry after they were stabbed to death in 2020.
Reacting to openDemocracy’s findings, the sisters’ mother, Mina Smallman, said she was “not surprised at all”.
“I just feel so hurt on behalf of the relatives of the people whose pictures were taken,” she said. “It is a dehumanising act.”
She added: “It reminds me of the lynching… This is a 21st century version of that. Someone taking pictures and sending them on to people, ‘have a look at this’. That is what I think of an act like that.”
The findings follow a review by crossbench peer Louise Casey earlier this year into the culture of the Metropolitan Police, which said the force suffered from institutional racism, sexism and homophobia.
openDemocracy has previously revealed how hundreds of British police officers have been disciplined or dismissed in recent years for sickening uses of social media, and how Met Police officers kept their jobs after sending racist and sexist messages.
Last week, the BBC revealed how six former Met Police officers have been charged with sending racist messages on WhatsApp.
‘Look who’s turned up dead’
The Metropolitan Police Service told openDemocracy that it knows of four cases where officers took images of bodies.
They include officers Jamie Lewis and Deniz Jaffer who were jailed in 2021 for taking and sharing photographs of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry.
Later in January 2023, another officer, Bonnie Murphy, was sacked for asking Lewis to send her a photo of a man’s decomposed body.
The Met Police said a fourth case is still “live” and that an ongoing criminal investigation is examining images of deceased people found on an officers’ digital devices.
Outside London, our analysis suggests there have been at least a dozen similar cases since 2015, where officers have been accused of taking photos of dead people.
Last year, PC Daniel Wallwork of Avon and Somerset Police was sacked after sending an image of a partially dressed dead woman from his personal phone, with the message: “Look who’s turned up dead.”
At a hearing, Wallwork accepted misconduct, but argued that it didn’t amount to gross misconduct. A representative speaking on his behalf claimed the image was not taken to “make fun or mock” the dead woman and that he “actually felt quite sorry for her”.
Meanwhile, West Mercia Police said an officer was sacked for taking photos of a body that was found decomposing in water in 2016. And an officer in Derbyshire was accused of taking pictures while attending the scene of a sudden death, before sending the images to a family member of the deceased.
In 2021, a Thames Valley Police officer took photos of a dead woman at a crime scene and shared them. The PC was further accused of trying to cover up what he had done.
Northumbria Police refused to disclose misconduct details under the Freedom of Information Act. But one of its officers, PC Luke Dickson, was sacked last year after keeping photographs of decaying bodies on his phone, as well as sharing a “very sensitive” image of a domestic violence victim.
Allowed to keep jobs
Despite the disturbing nature of the incidents, several police forces have allowed officers to keep their jobs – even after admitting they took unauthorised photos.
They include a separate case in Derbyshire, where a PC was sent several images of a body and showed them to other colleagues. They kept their job and were simply referred to an internal process known as “reflective review”, where “key lessons” are “identified” and “learned”.
Another officer in North Yorkshire was allowed to do a “reflective review” after taking unauthorised pictures of a dead body in 2021.
And Dorset Police said that an officer received a written warning for taking a photograph of a dead woman and forwarding it to a colleague.
The same thing had happened in West Yorkshire Police in 2015, with a “final written warning” being given.
Greater Manchester Police refused to release details, telling openDemocracy it would cost too much to comply with our FOI request. But in 2021, it was reported that a police officer had sent a picture of a body to a member of the public. The officer received a written warning.
As well as taking pictures of dead bodies, officers across the country have been accused of using their personal phones to photograph crime scenes.
One PC was found to have images of individuals who had been arrested or detained on their phone. Another took an unauthorised photo of a detainee “immediately after a difficult arrest” and shared it with colleagues.
Last year, an officer for Staffordshire Police used their personal phone to record CCTV footage of a crime suspect being forcibly restrained before sharing it on WhatsApp.
Others were accused of taking pictures of road traffic accidents and crime scenes. They include an officer for Devon and Cornwall Police who shared a photo of themselves and a colleague at a crime scene via WhatsApp.
Officers in Kent and Hertfordshire have also been caught taking pictures of cannabis plants and a cannabis factory, which were shared with members of the public.
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https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/british-police-officers-photos-crime-scenes-dead-bodies-whatsapp/
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