FOI-1061-2025 / Oct 2025 / Police officer misconduct using social media
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 1061-2025
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 24th October 2025 as follows:
Please provide the following information for the years 2022, 2023, 2024 and the available information for 2025:
Q1. The number of police officers that were disciplined for their conduct on WhatsApp and / or other social media sites.
(a) For each disciplined police officer, please describe briefly what happened.
(b) If the police officer was writing offensive messages/posts, please disclose copies of these messages/posts.
(c) If the police officer was sharing offensive posts, please disclose copies of these posts.
Q2. Please indicate the number of police officers that were dismissed for their conduct on WhatsApp and / or other social media sites.
(a) For each dismissed police officer, please describe briefly what happened.
(b) If the police officer was writing offensive messages/posts, please disclose copies of these messages/posts.
(c) If the police officer was sharing offensive posts, please disclose copies of these posts.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: The business area has advised that the requested information is not available in a readily retrievable format. In order to determine a response, it would be necessary to manually review 588 pages of records on an individual basis, first to establish whether any information falls within the remit of the request and then, if so, to extract and record all relevant details. The business area has provided an estimate of 5 minutes per page to review, which would equate to 49 hours of work. Therefore, the work required to locate and retrieve the requested information would exceed the cost threshold of £450, which equates to 18 hours work at a standard rate of £25 per hour, as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In accordance with Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance on refining your request. Due to the requirement to conduct a manual review of individual records, I can advise that it may be possible to locate and retrieve some information for a lesser period of say 12 months, should you wish to revise and resubmit your request. However, please note that any information located would still be subject to the usual disclosure considerations.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB