Police officer sacked after using popular working from home trick

One WFH trick cost her the job

According to the police, the sergeant was using a picture frame to weigh down her laptop keys.

The officer, referred to as Sergeant X, used the trick on the majority of shifts she worked in April and May last year, Avon and Somerset Police said.

The sergeant admitted that she used a corner of a frame to weigh down the keys so her laptop would not go into “sleep mode” during a period of challenges in her personal life.

After data used by the force's professional standards department showed the officer's keystrokes were significantly high, an investigation was then opened.

And according to further evidence, the number of keystrokes were between three and eight times higher than colleagues in a similar role.

After a hearing found her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, the sergeant was dismissed without notice and barred from police and other law enforcement agencies.

“It is extremely disappointing an officer has behaved in a way which could not only discredit the police force, but also undermine the public confidence in respect of our duties and responsibilities”, detective superintendent Larisa Hunt of Avon and Somerset Police said.

“We know officers and staff deal with immense pressure and high workloads, and while Sergeant X had some mitigating circumstances, it's unacceptable for an officer to act in this deliberate and deceitful way by abusing the trust placed in her, by making it appear she was working when she was not.”