What is Abuse of Position for a Sexual Purpose (APSP)?

“Abuse of position for a sexual or improper emotional relationship or purpose” is a term of jargon used in modern day Policing to describe an age old problem – the exploitation of ‘damsels in distress’ by so called ‘knights in shining armour’.

Decades ago this problem wasn’t properly recognised within the Policing profession – or, perhaps was recognised by an Officer’s superiors, with a wink and a nod. Twenty years ago an Officer could get a ‘slap on the wrist’ for impregnating a woman whom he had arrested only weeks earlier and whilst she was still under criminal investigation. Nowadays, however, the ethical boundaries surrounding this sort of behaviour have been rigorously defined and are properly implemented, and many Officers who commit Abuse of Position for a Sexual Purpose will be the ones who are facing imprisonment.

Here is an APSP Policy recently published by Surrey and Sussex Police. Similar guidance documents exist across all of the Forces of England and Wales.

APSP Policies apply not only to Police Officers but also Special Constables, Police staff and Police volunteers. 

As is stated in the Surrey and Sussex Policy linked to above, the importance of these guidelines cannot be underestimated –

“The professional relationship between a member of the Police service and public depends on trust and confidence.  Police Officers and staff members who display sexualised behaviour towards a member of the public who they have come into contact with through their work, undermines the profession, breaches trust, exploits a power imbalance, is unprofessional, and may constitute a criminal act” (1.3).

The Policy goes on to define Abuse of Position for a Sexual Purpose (APSP) as –

“Any behaviour by a Police Officer or a Police staff member, whether on or off duty, that takes advantage of their position as a member of the Police service to misuse their position authority or powers to pursue a sexual or improper emotional relationship with any member of the public”. 

Note the phrase – ‘any member of the public’.  This form of Police corruption is not defined as being confined to those who are specifically victims of crime or who have pre-existing mental or emotional vulnerabilities. Abuse of Power for a Sexual Purpose is quite rightly regarded as serious corruption and those Officers who have committed it, even if they do not face criminal charges – which would generally be in the form of a prosecution for Misconduct in Public Office, or are perhaps prosecuted but found not guilty in the criminal Courts – are likely to nevertheless face Gross Misconduct proceedings and scarcely a week has gone by in recent years without multiple cases of this nature making the news headlines. 

I have represented dozens of women who have been subjected to this particularly invidious form of abuse of power and have recovered tens of thousands of pounds of compensation on their behalf by suing the Police for Assault and Battery, Harassment, or under the law of Misfeasance in Public Office,  which is the civil ‘counterpart’ to the criminal offence of Misconduct in Public Office.  You can read about the stories of some of the women whom I have helped in previous ‘chapters’ of this Blog –

• Julia, a domestic violence victim who won £14,500 damages after PC Latimer of Cambridgeshire Police exploited his knowledge of her case to attempt to groom her;

• Nicola, who won £17,000 from West Yorkshire Police after a Crime Scene Investigator called Daniel Cordwell, attending her home after a burglary, kissed her without her consent;

• Sally, another domestic violence victim, who recovered compensation of £45,000, and a written apology, from Devon & Cornwall Police after PCSO Bunyan exploited his ‘white knight’ role to groom her into a sexual relationship;

• Karen, who recovered £10,000 from Merseyside Police after PC Campbell sexually harassed her whilst carrying out a ‘child welfare’ check at her home;

• Josie and Lisa, who were both abused by the same predatory officer, DC McMillan of Merseyside Police;

• Kate, who won £25,000 from Merseyside Police, after she had reported a man who was sexually exploiting young women and girls, and was then hersef subject to a campaign of sexual harassment by text message from the investigating Officer, DS Stubbs;

• Clare, a young, vulnerable victim of domestic abuse who recovered £25,000 compensation after she was groomed and sexually exploited by a serving Police Officer, PC Powell;

• Gemma, who recovered £22,500 from Thames Valley Police after the officer allocated to her case, PC Green, pestered and harassed her with flirtatious and personal messages.

Misfeasance in Public Office is a civil tort (i.e. wrongful act by one person toward another) for which compensatory damages can be recovered if the following criteria are satisfied (as defined in the case of Three Rivers District Council v Bank of England (No 3) [2001] UKHL 16 –

• The perpetrator must be a public officer;
• The perpetrator must have acted in the purported performance of their public duty or must have exercised a power or opportunity made available to them as a public officer;
• The perpetrator must have acted unlawfully and with either deliberate or reckless malice;
• The perpetrator’s conduct must have caused the victim loss or damage.

Most cases of Police Officers/ staff members exploiting their role or knowledge of a person’s case to groom or seduce them into a sexual relationship (or attempting to do so), will fit the definition of this tort, if, as is so often the case, the Officer’s actions ultimately result in psychological harm to their target.

As the Surrey and Sussex Police policy makes clear, abuse of position for a sexual or improper emotional relationship, covers more than outright sexual intercourse or sexual touching, and includes lewd communications, unnecessary contact, suggestive messages on social media and asking members of the public whom officers have met in the course of their duties on a ‘date.’ It also covers the ‘preparatory’ work of a would-be exploiter or predator, such as ‘researching’ potential targets using social media or Police computer systems and databases.

I will also echo here the ‘warning signs’ of inappropriate, exploitative Police behaviour, which are cited in the APSP policy, but which I have sadly seen in the real world on so many occasions, during my handling of such cases –

• The perception of a police officer or staff member as a ‘knight in shining armour’, often manifesting as ‘gushing praise’ of the officer;

• Unexpected visits or ‘welfare checks’ from a certain officer or staff member;

• A domestic abuse investigation ‘steered towards’ a low- level of quick resolution (for often the knights in shining armour are not only focused on getting the victim into bed, they will also callously neglect the criminal case they were supposed to be investigating in the first place, thereby causing a double dose of harm to the woman);

• Flirtatious behaviour, including use of ‘nicknames’ or ‘pet’ names and the classic “kisses on the end of messages – xx” a ‘casual’ affectation with an ultimately corrupt and sinister purpose;

• On a similar basis, the use of “emojis” and other informal, unprofessional means of communication;

• Contact or visits from the officer or staff member when they are off duty;

• Presents, gifts or letters from the officer or staff member.

• Continued or renewed contact after an incident or case is closed.

• The provision of an officer’s personal mobile phone number to a victim or witness of crime.

As you will have seen from reading this blog, and my many other case reports on this subject, I have a great deal of expertise in representing those who have suffered from Police Abuse of Power for a Sexual Purpose, in circumstances ranging from ‘remote’ contact and text-message harassment all the way up to full-blown sexual seduction and exploitation. It is, in my opinion, one of the worst forms of Police corruption, but thankfully in the modern era, its victims do not need to suffer in silence. If you or someone you know requires help or advice in this area of law, please make contact with me via this website.