A police officer could be dismissed from the Avon and Somerset constabulary after allegedly failing to investigate the theft of a wheelchair.
PC Daniel Pierson spoke to the disabled victim following the incident on October 19 last year but decided not to carry out further inquiries.
When CCTV footage identified a potential suspect a week later, he arranged a voluntary interview with the suspect.
A notice for PC Pierson’s misconduct hearing says the suspect arrived an hour late with the wheelchair in the back of their car but the officer did not try to retrieve it.
The interview was rescheduled and the suspect admitted taking the wheelchair, believing it belonged to “a third party with whom they had a grievance”.
Despite the admission, PC Pierson reportedly asked his sergeant for permission to file the case, claiming there were no more lines of enquiry to pursue.
The request was refused and he was tasked with finding out if the victim wanted the matter to be pursued.
The hearing notice says: “PC Pierson had a conversation with the victim in which he told them that the suspect had taken the wheelchair by mistake, thinking it belonged to another person, and that he was unable to take further action as it had been a mistake.
“The victim did not, explicitly or by implication, indicate that they did not wish for matters to be taken further as against the suspect.”
The officer is accused of making a false entry in the police system when he logged that the victim was happy for no further action to take place.
When he was later told the victim still wanted the suspect dealt with, he allegedly took no action.
PC Pierson is accused of breaching professional standards for honesty and integrity, equality and diversity, duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct.
If the conduct is proven, he could be found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed from the force.
The hearing will be held in public at the police HQ in Portishead on August 14 and 15.
