London Police Fired for Playing Poker

A group of police officers in south east London were fired after being caught playing poker, board games and leisurely cleaning golf clubs while on duty. Of the seven officers involved, three were let go and the others resigned after an investigated was conducted by the Metropolitan Police. Hidden cameras and listening devices caught them playing poker rather than keeping the streets safe. One officer was cleaning his clubs in the office and some of the officers even put themselves down for overtime for unworked shifts. Commander Allan Gibson, head of the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "These officers let the whole of the service down with their behaviour; but more importantly they let down their local community. "There is no place for lazy attitudes in the MPS and those who are found to be failing in their duties will be held to account." The activities were exposed during an undercover operation by Cmdr Gibson's unit into the Safer Neighbourhood Team in the Mottingham and Chislehurst North ward of Bromley in 2010. In a statement, the Met said: "The disciplinary panel heard evidence that officers from the team had played backgammon and poker whilst on duty, watched TV in the office, frequently failed to go out on patrol, had not worked full tours of duty and also claimed overtime that had not been worked. "In addition, one officer had gone out for runs during the working day whilst a further officer cleaned his golf clubs in the office. These activities appear to have taken place at the expense of policing duties, such as patrolling the local area."