More than 150 police officers faced disciplinary action in England and Wales during the period 2008-2010 over their behaviour on the social networking site Facebook, according to details released by Press Association.
Policemen have used Facebook to harass former partners and ex-colleagues, to make comments on their counterparts wives and some even suggested having beaten up members of the public during protests, figures collected from 41 of the 43 forces show.
An officer in Hampshire was dismissed without notice in 2009 for posting a racist comment on Facebook, while another officer was dismissed in early part of 2011 for referring to a colleague as a "grass" and a "liar" on Facebook and harassing a policewoman.
According the forces, some even revealed details of police operations, tried to befriend crime victims and had some of their inappropriate photographs posted.
A total of seven officers, including two special constables from the Dorset force and officers from Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Essex, North Wales and South Yorkshire had reportedly resigned.
According to Roger Baker, who led a review into police corruption for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), social networking is seen as a risk by all forces and authorities, but there are limited or inconsistent policies around what is acceptable, what you should do, what you shouldn’t do.
"We found a significant blurring between people’s professional lives on social networking sites and their private lives which may be in the public domain and private lives which probably should remain extremely private," added Baker.
