A police officer who is alleged to have stolen a colleague's packet of biscuits has spent an entire year on restricted duties while the claims are investigated.
Honestly.
The officer is reported to have spotted an open packet of biscuits and handed them out to his fellow officers at the end of a night shift. He was later accused of theft and placed on 'restricted duties' in June 2016, while Scotland Yard's Department of Professional Standards look into the matter.
You'd think someone at Scotland Yard would be able to crack this case, wouldn't you? But apparently, not because a year later, the matter is still being looked into.
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The cop, who works in Kingston, south-west London, is unable to have contact with the public or to investigate crime while the alleged theft is looked into. And he's not the only one, according to the Mirror - there are thousands of officers currently on restricted duties while time-consuming investigations take place, often over seemingly small allegations such as this one.
Speaking to the Mirror about the incident, which we're going to call 'Biscuit-gate', a source said: "They offered teammates biscuits from an open packet left out on a desk in the police station, at the end of a busy night shift.
"The issue I want to raise is the length of time it now takes to conduct the simplest of investigations, with many officers languishing inside of police stations for months on end, with the average investigation taking over a year.
"The officers, who in most cases have done little or nothing wrong, are out of the evidential chain and not permitted to come into contact with the public and unable to go out on the street.
"As such, they are found work within DPS restricted guidelines at police stations while watching colleagues burn out."
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I mean, don't get me wrong, I love biscuits and hate having my food stolen, but I don't think I'd want my colleague under investigation for a year over sharing a few of my chocolate chip cookies. Depends how hungry I was when I found out, I guess.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman told the paper: "Following an internal report of wrongdoing of the theft of a box of biscuits, which was escalated to the Directorate of Professional Standards, an officer based on Kingston Borough was placed on restricted duties in June 2016.
"The investigation has nearly concluded. The officer will be updated on the outcome in due course."
It probably goes without saying, but the police in the UK are seriously overstretched as it is, yet in March of last year over four percent (4,933) of officers from England and Wales were on restricted duties.
The source added: "These officers are very much needed on the street, especially now their own forces are stretched to the limits. The amount of officers currently restricted in the Met Police would be enough to staff the uniformed roles of a borough the size of Kingston/Sutton or Bexley for example."
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