Former chief superintendent who ‘obstructed IOPC investigation’ guilty of gross misconduct

David Clark, a former chief superintendent at City of London Police, then obtained another handset which he gave to the IOPC “knowing that its contents would be downloaded and used as part of the investigation”.

It was also alleged that Mr Clark breached force policy by forwarding emails from a City of London Police email account to his personal account without permission, and also forwarding “some or all of the documents to a third party”.

In total there were five allegations made against Mr Clark and a misconduct hearing has concluded that all the allegations breached standards of professional behaviour and amounted to gross misconduct.

T/Chief Superintendent for Professionalism and Trust Portfolio Sanjay Andersen said: “The findings of the misconduct panel relate to serious allegations dating back to 2018, that Mr Clark breached our standards of professional behaviour in honesty and integrity, orders and instructions, confidentiality and discreditable conduct.

“Trust and confidence in policing is essential. While this case dates back several years, we take every action necessary to maintain our professional standards and expect all officers and staff to serve with honesty and integrity.

“The behaviours and actions evidenced throughout this hearing will not be tolerated by the City of London Police, and Mr Clark will now be added to the police barred list, preventing him from ever working in policing again.”

The misconduct panel found Mr Clark, who resigned from the force in 2019, would have been dismissed had he still been a serving officer.

The hearing, which began on April 24 and concluded on May 9, heard that “on or around” January 11-12, 2018, it was alleged that Mr Clark forwarded emails from a City of London Police email account to his personal email account without permission, contravening force policy and/or good information security practice.

It was alleged that around the same time, the former officer forwarded “some or all of the documents to a third party”, knowing that this was improper and was a breach of force policy and/or good information security practice.

Mr Clark then obstructed the IOPC investigation by denying in interview on March 5-6, 2019, that he had forwarded any of the documents to a third party, the misconduct panel heard.

It also heard that Mr Clark “obstructed the IOPC investigation” by disposing of his mobile telephone handset on July 12, 2018, knowing that:

• It had been in use at times relevant to the IOPC investigation, and in particular in January 2018;
• It contained evidence which was relevant to the IOPC investigation; and
• It had been sought for the purposes of the investigation by the execution of a search warrant.

It was alleged that Mr Clark further obstructed the investigation by attending the IOPC offices on August 14, 2020, and providing a mobile telephone handset which had recently been obtained, “knowing that its contents would be downloaded and used as part of the IOPC investigation, but without disclosing that he had changed handsets on July 12, 2018”.