Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info. A culture of homophobic, sexist and offensive language was the office environment a detective was working in, a police misconduct has heard. However, a detective sergeant and former officers could not provide any documentation of the breach - until their witness statements were brought to light during the misconduct proceedings.
DS Fitzpatrick helped lead a Cleveland Police exercise - Operation Spoonbill - to crack a high-profile drugs ring involving cocaine, cash and helicopters. A misconduct hearing is being held over allegations that DS Fitzpatrick sent "inappropriate" WhatsApp messages to a witness , who was originally arrested over a "drugs matter concerning someone else".
Mr Dos Santos, counsel for the appropriate authority, called three witnesses to give evidence. The first was Detective Chief Inspector Jonathan Tapper who appeared at the misconduct hearing at a venue in Thornaby , wearing a blue suit. DCI Tapper provided two witness statements for the investigation into DS Fitzpatrick, the first on September 22, , and the second on April 21, DCI Tapper stated that he "definitely" was. DCI Tapper explained that at the time he was a temporary chief inspector and new to covering policing operations.
In his first witness statement, DCI Tapper outlined how he was on duty at the time an organised crime team were engaging in a surveillance operation involving NE. He stated that DCI Fitzpatrick "appeared to make evasive moments" during the operation. Mr Green asked about the frequency of officers becoming compromised during operations and that it was not uncommon. DCI Tapper replied that "it does happen".
The panel heard that the officer wrote in his witness statement that there was an informal debrief with supervisors who reportedly ordered that DCI Fitzpatrick "would not be involved in any further surveillance operations regarding the same individual".
