‘Be Wary Of Work Social Media Groups’

OFFICERS should be “very wary of having work-related social media groups”, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said, after two officers from another force were sacked over messages and images posted in a WhatsApp group.

The officers, from Essex Police, had shared “discriminatory and derogatory” images and memes and were found to have “breached a number of the standards of professional behaviour”.

South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said that social media was “a massive, massive minefield”.

His message to officers was: “Be very, very wary of having work-related social media groups, especially like WhatsApp team groups, because if there is any inappropriateness within there, that could put all officers under the disciplinary spotlight, because there is an expectation that officers will challenge that inappropriateness.

“Try to keep work to work and home to home. If you do decide to have team WhatsApp groups, because they can be beneficial and supportive, work under the assumption that everybody can see what you’re saying.

“Whatever you’re saying there, pretend you’ve said it in an open forum in a briefing room, because that is what you are doing.”

Tiff Lynch, Performance & Conduct Secretary for PFEW, said: “As police officers we have a different right to privacy – both on and off duty – as public interest has been used by the courts in order to override it.

“So, if an officer shares any post which others could perceive as offensive on social media or WhatsApp, there’s the potential for misconduct charges to be brought against them, even if it was on a personal phone or off duty.

“If an officer receives material which others could perceive as offensive, for example jokes that could be considered racist or sexist, they have a duty to challenge that material. If they don’t, again they could be up on misconduct charges.”