Bay of Plenty policeman offered female colleague $20 for sex act

A Bay of Plenty Police officer has been found to have acted inappropriately towards two of his female colleagues. Photo / File

A Bay of Plenty Police officer has been sanctioned for acting inappropriately towards two of his female colleagues.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority found the inappropriate conduct happened in two separate incidents in August and October last year that included inappropriate comments and behaviour.

In October 2018, following a quiz night at a Bay of Plenty police station, Officer A approached a female staff member as she was getting ready to leave and offered her "$20 for a BJ".

She was upset by the comment and complained to a senior officer.

While investigating this issue, the Authority became aware that in August 2018, Officer A used a newly-recruited female police officer's computer to send himself an email, purportedly from her, asking if they had become "best friends".

He then replied to this email from his own computer and email account.

A few days later, Officer A implied he used illegal drugs in texts to the female police officer.

Police conducted employment investigations into each of these incidents and sanctioned Officer A.

Their investigations found that Officer A did not use illegal drugs, but he had implied he did in an attempt to impress the female police officer.

It was found that Officer A behaved inappropriately towards both of his colleagues and his actions were inconsistent with police policy on discrimination and harassment, and it's values and code of conduct.

Authority chairman Judge Colin Doherty said, "Quite simply, Officer A should never have placed his colleagues in a position where they felt uncomfortable, embarrassed and demeaned."

"His behaviour was completely inappropriate, and it is no mitigation that his comments and actions were intended to be funny or to impress."

He said officer A fell short of the behaviour and values expected of a New Zealand Police employee by a considerable margin.

Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Andy McGregor said the behaviour displayed by the officer was totally unacceptable and fell far below the standard expected of a New Zealand police officer.

"It is not in line with our values and what is laid out clearly in our police Code of Conduct.

"I commend the women involved for coming forward and speaking up, so we could investigate and act accordingly."