Police officer dismissed for gross misconduct following accelerated hearing

A police officer who wrote down his sexual fantasies about two members of the public in graphic detail has been dismissed without notice by Chief Constable Sarah Crew following an accelerated misconduct hearing.

Yesterday’s hearing was held in public and heard how Detective Constable Jon Hooper had breached standards of honesty and integrity; authority, respect and courtesy; and discreditable conduct.

In 2019, DC Hooper drafted an email and two entries on a crime recording system in which he detailed his grossly inappropriate thoughts about an aggravated burglary victim and a burglary witness respectively.

The email was never sent while the crime recording system entries weren’t published.

In addition, DC Hooper also sent a total of seven text messages to two vulnerable sexual assault victims in which he used swear words to refer to the suspects in their cases.

The draft email and crime recording system entries and text messages for which DC Jon Hooper has been dismissed came to light when our Professional Standards Department (PSD) was preparing for a misconduct hearing into other allegations against him which followed an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation.

The drafts and texts were subsequently also referred to the IOPC which ultimately determined they could be investigated by our PSD.

Throughout the course of both investigations into his conduct DC Hooper was placed on restricted duties which meant he did not directly undertake any enquiries with victims of crime or vulnerable members of the public and was not involved in gathering or recording evidence.

The hearing relating to the allegations of misconduct investigated by the IOPC will take place in due course.

Delivering her verdict on the matters covered by yesterday’s hearing, CC Crew condemned his behaviour as “abhorrent” and dismissed him without notice.

CC Crew said: “Such vile and sickening behaviour cannot be allowed to exist in policing.

“If it is ever left to fester it will cause irreparable damage to the relationship we have with our communities and the trust they have in us to protect them.

“DC Hooper’s actions were intentional, deliberate and were repeated over a sustained period of time.

“I am ashamed of the deplorable words he used in messages to vulnerable victims of crime and of the abhorrent, sexualised language used on police systems.

“I am determined both the public and fellow officers are left in no doubt that this behaviour has no place in policing and that in Avon and Somerset, we will do all we can to root it out.”

DC Hooper will now be added onto the National College of Policing’s barred list which prohibits him from working within policing and certain law enforcement bodies.

The full outcome will be available on the misconduct section of our website when available.