Police officer held down laptop keys to pretend he was working
A police officer who worked from home weighted down his laptop keys to make it look as though he was working.
Pc Liam Reakes's deception cost his force more than 100 hours of work time, a misconduct hearing was told. He has been barred from policing for life.
His actions came to light after Avon and Somerset Constabulary carried out an audit of keystrokes, which flagged his total as 'significantly higher' than colleagues in similar roles.
At an accelerated misconduct hearing on Monday, he was added to the national barred list, which will prevent him from working in policing or other law enforcement agencies again.
The panel ruled that the officer, who served in Yeovil, had committed gross misconduct and would have been dismissed had he not resigned already.
Craig Holden, the panel's chairman, was told the offending took place between June and September last year. It was heard that Pc Reakes 'held down keys at regular intervals'.
He had been made the subject of an action plan and even been allocated a tutor to try and alleviate concerns about his performance before the audit took place. However, he continued to deceive superiors to 'make it appear as if he was working when he was not'.
Det Supt Larisa Hunt, the head of the professional standards department, said: 'The use of any device or system to replicate keyboard activity is wholly wrong and deceptive and the public will be rightly outraged at this behaviour.
'Not only has he let down those he made a commitment to serve and protect, he's also let down his colleagues, who are continuing to deal with significant pressure and workloads.
'We're continually reminding line managers of their key responsibilities to hold regular check-ins, one-to-ones, and reviews, so the wellbeing and capacity of their staff can be properly monitored.
'It's also important for performance issues to be identified early and any necessary support or training put in place to help resolve them.'
Crime rates soaring
A Telegraph audit previously found police forces across the country are failing to get staff back into the office, despite crime rates soaring since the pandemic.
In March, the Metropolitan Police was hit with its second bout of strike action by its workforce because of a dispute over work from home rules.
Since 2021, many civilian staff have enjoyed generous hybrid working arrangements, with many departments struggling to enforce a return to pre-pandemic office attendance levels.
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