Police officer dismissed following misconduct hearing

A Wiltshire Police officer has been dismissed without notice after a hearing found his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

The hearing, held at Wiltshire Police Headquarters on 13 December 2024 and chaired by Chief Constable Catherine Roper, concluded that the actions of PC Joshua Harper breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour for police officers of Authority, Respect and Courtesy, Confidentiality, Discreditable Conduct and Honesty and Integrity.

The chair considered four allegations against PC Harper and upheld two allegations. As a result, PC Harper was dismissed without notice*. He will also be placed on the national barred list which means he will not be able to work in policing in the future.

Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper said “The actions of PC Harper go against everything we stand for in policing. PC Harper shared inappropriate material with a member of the public for his own sexual gratification and, in the process undermined the trust that the public place in us to serve them according to the highest possible standards.

“We continue to act robustly where behaviour is reported to us that falls short of what our communities expect and deserve. We will not stop until we root out behaviours such as those displayed by PC Harper from our organisation. Only through doing this can we ensure that we maintain the highest standards of professional behaviour and build the trust and confidence of the communities we are here to serve.”

* In line with the Police Conduct regulations 2020, the officer has a period of 10 working days to appeal the outcome.