A serving Greater Manchester Police Officer has been sacked after a misconduct hearing found him guilty of searching the police database for information on people and sharing it with a third party
Sergeant Richard Proctor, who worked in GMP’s City of Manchester district, was also barred from policing after behaviour amounting to gross misconduct was proven during an Accelerated Misconduct Hearing .
Proctor apologised, saying he had ‘made a mistake’ and was ‘sincerely sorry’.
The hearing was told that Proctor ‘behaved in a manner which discredits or could discredit the Police Service and/or undermines the public confidence in it by failing to maintain the highest standards of behaviour because he failed to treat information with respect and access or disclose it only in the proper course of police duties’.
In September 2022, Proctor pleaded guilty to multiple criminal offences under the Computer Misuse Act and Data Protection Act. The court was told that, on nine occasions, Proctor conducted checks on people who were known or of interest to him with no policing purpose and, on 22 occasions, he shared this information with a third party.
Dismissing him, Chief Constable Stephen Watson said: “Sergeant Proctor has accepted he has breached the standards of professional behaviour, namely discreditable conduct and confidentiality. The breaches alleged are proven and they do amount to gross misconduct. I have taken into account his professional record but the only appropriate disciplinary outcome is dismissal without notice.
“Sergeant Proctor stands convicted of various criminal offences and his actions were deliberate and persistent. The information disclosed included very sensitive data and breached the personal privacy of the subjects of this data.
“Sergeant Proctor’s offending behaviour was simply unacceptable.”
Superintendent Phil Duffy, of GMP’s Professional Standards Branch, said: “It is no secret that, under new leadership, Greater Manchester Police has upped the ante in ‘rooting out and booting out corruption’.
“The Force Vetting Unit is working hard to ensure that those who join the force are the right people to do so, whilst the Professional Standards Branch strive to ensure that those who already represent GMP are behaving with the highest professional standards both on and off duty.
“Proctor displayed a flagrant disregard to both GMP policy and legislation and in doing so damages the vital public trust and confidence that the overwhelming majority of our officers and staff work extremely hard to maintain.
“The decision of the Chief Constable to dismiss Proctor is a prime example of the robust action we are committed to take against those who damage our relationship with the public by committing criminal offences and/or misconducting themselves.”
