237 police officers disciplined over computer misuse
FOI request reveals UK forces failing basic IT best practices


The UK's police forces have disciplined 237 serving officers and members of staff for computer misuse, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Six employees have resigned and 11 have been sacked due to failing basic IT best practices.
23 police forces responded to the FOI request made by think tank Parliament Steet. Of those, the Surrey and London Metropolitan police recorded the most disciplinary action over computer misuse.
The offences range from using police systems without legitimate purposes to sharing sensitive information over social media, and raise concerns over the privacy and security standards of the UK's law enforcement.
Over two financial years, the Surrey police force recorded 50 individual cases of IT abuse, with the majority of the incidents relating to misuse of email. The Met recorded 18 disciplinary accounts, with one sacking over the misuse of the Crime Reporting System.
The Met also disciplined four members of staff for misusing social media. Two employees from Hertfordshire's constabulary were reprimanded for the same reason, after taking photos of the force's systems and sharing them via social media.
Three officers each were sacked from both Gwent and Wiltshire forces for using the police databases without lawful access to the information. One member of the Nottinghamshire Police used its system to search for a civil dispute they were involved in.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
"Instilling the highest standards of IT best practice in serving officers and operational staff is critical for maintaining the integrity of our police forces," Sheila Flavell, COO of recruitment service FDM Group.
"All too often these incidents arise due to a lack of training or understanding about the need for correctly handling sensitive information. With cyber crime on the rise, it's vital that those tasked with keeping us safe are proficient with technology and acutely aware of the importance of data protection rules."
Bobby Hellard is ITPro's Reviews Editor and has worked on CloudPro and ChannelPro since 2018. In his time at ITPro, Bobby has covered stories for all the major technology companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and regularly attends industry-leading events such as AWS Re:Invent and Google Cloud Next.
Bobby mainly covers hardware reviews, but you will also recognize him as the face of many of our video reviews of laptops and smartphones.
-
Microsoft ramps up zero trust capabilities amid agentic AI push
News The move from Microsoft looks to bolster agent security and prevent misuse
-
What is an AI factory and what does it mean for enterprises?
Supported This form of specialized computing infrastructure powers some of our most popular services today
-
Computer Misuse Act 'putting critical UK infrastructure at risk'
News The 30 year-old legislation also prevents cyber security professionals from doing their jobs, it's claimed
-
Ex-Yahoo employee admits trawling through user accounts for explicit content
News More than 6,000 users compromised as defendant also accessed iCloud, Facebook and Gmail accounts
-
Almost 100 HMRC staff disciplined over computer misuse, FOI reveals
News Staff dismissed over misuse of emails, computer equipment and social media
-
Six-month sentence handed for data abuse in landmark ICO prosecution
News Data regulator hints seeking tougher punishment was an effort to change behaviour in how personal data is held and processed
-
NCSC unveils new cyber attack classification system
News The framework categorises everything from individual hacks up to national cyber emergencies
-
British 'hacker' Lauri Love wins High Court appeal against US extradition
News Love is now expected to stand trial in the UK on charges of US hacking
-
36% of ex-employees are breaking the computer misuse act
News Companies are failing to revoke access when IT workers leave