West Mercia Police officer sacked for using police computer to look up friends and associates
A police officer has been dismissed after he used the police computer to look up details of friends and associates over a 10-year period.
A gross misconduct hearing heard this week how West Mercia Police officer of 17 years, Thomas Lauder, breached the professional standards behaviour of the Police Conduct Regulations Act, after accessing the force's police computer over a ten-year period.
The two-day hearing, which concluded on Thursday (January 16), heard that the 42-year-old was working as a trainee detective constable when his breaches were discovered.
The panel were told that between March 2012 and October 2022, DC Lauder accessed police systems without a valid policing purpose to conduct searches on family members and associates.
He had worked as an officer at Donnington, Malinsgate and Bridgnorth since becoming a police officer as a 24-year-old.
The hearing at West Mercia Police’s headquarters near Worcester was chaired by Rachel Hartland-Lane, director of business services, and concluded with Lauder's dismissal.
Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Jones said: “Thomas Lauder carried out numerous data breaches over a 10-year period whilst working for West Mercia Police, accessing information the general public would not have access to and without a proper policing purpose to do so.
“Lauder abused his power as a police officer, which has a negative impact on the trust the public have in police, and therefore undermines the hard work and dedication of our officers.
“Officers like Lauder have no place in our force and our commitment to removing them will continue.”
Lauder will now be added to the College of Policing’s Barred List, banning him from working for a UK police service in the future.
The outcome of the hearing is subject to the normal appeals process.
