Thames Valley Chief Constable reinstated in surprise U-turn - despite ongoing gross misconduct claim against him

Jason Hogg was suspended from all duties earlier this month after allegations were made public that he was under investigation for gross misconduct.

The suspension would remain while the IOPC, the independant police watchdog body, investigated the case, said TVP Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber.

But this afternoon, in a surprise statement, Mr Barber announced the chief constable would be returning to his duties, even though the IOPC investigation, started almost two years ago, was still in progress.

He said: “Twelve days ago (16/01), when presented with a set of allegations by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), I announced the Chief Constable’s . Whilst I took this decision in what I considered to be the wider public interest of ensuring confidence in policing, this has been subject to an appeal.”

“Following these representations as part of the normal review of such decisions and having taken legal advice on the appeal, it is clear that in my original suspension decision I was over reliant on the assessment made by the IOPC.”

The investigation into the case started almost two years ago, in April 2023. And the alleged misconduct dates back to 2016, with the claims spanning a four year period up until 2020.

The claims centre around concerns that Mr Hogg and another senior Thames Valley Police officer failed to properly investigate allegations that a former senior TVP officer retained a “significant amount of sensitive police information” after they left the force.