“He damaged trust and this undermines the work of us all in policing” – they are the damning words of a senior police officer following the dismissal of the Isle of Wight’s PC Jason Taylor for gross misconduct this week.
As previously reported by Island Echo, PC Taylor has been sacked by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary after using his position to have an affair by asking for women’s details whilst on duty, and then using their numbers to ask them out, between 2008-2009.
A 3-day disciplinary hearing was held in Eastleigh earlier this week which concluded with it being proven that the married father committed gross misconduct in relation to his pursuit of 2 women. PC Taylor was cleared of an allegation that he had sex with a grieving woman at her dead boyfriend’s house in 2004 after complaining he wasn’t ‘getting any’.
In response to the hearing’s findings this week, Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya has said:
“[The women] trusted PC Taylor because he was a serving police officer, as they rightly should have done, and he betrayed their trust by inappropriately pursuing them for his own purpose.
“These women have shown incredible strength to report what happened to them and I would like to thank them for their courage which has helped to ensure this officer cannot abuse his position any longer.
“It is unacceptable that PC Taylor abused his position for a sexual purpose as a police officer by pursuing women he came in contact with as part of his duties.
“The decision to dismiss this officer is supported by Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary as we expect every officer and staff member to operate with respect and integrity. There is no place for this deplorable behaviour within our police force.”
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DCC de Reya has added:
“When we proudly put on our uniform, we must represent the very best of society and the public must be able to trust that we will operate to the highest of standards at all times.
“Often, when people come into contact with us, they are potentially victims and witnesses of crime, could be struggling with traumatic experiences, and may be at a low point or challenging time of their lives.
“The public need to have complete faith that their police service will protect and support them and put their needs first.
“This is shamefully what PC Taylor failed to do when he pursued on these women.
“He damaged that trust and this undermines the work of us all in policing.”
TIP OFF THE ICEBERG
She’s quite right, we are all victims of such police officers. They wreck trust and the goodwill of the public and cause devastation to their direct victims. Vile human beings.
i think trust was damaged a hell of a lot before this. this is just something that doesn’t surprise me or many others
Hopefully he will be getting plenty in Prison