A senior police officer has been fired after a court learned he had kept a list of companions he found attractive.
Chief Inspector Paul Crouch was fired by British transport police without notice on Friday.
His dismissal came after a misconduct hearing at the headquarters of the force in Camden, in which Ch Insp Crouch was accused of being a sexist for a period of 10 years.
The court learned that she had commented that she was aroused while reading about the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl and that she had claimed that a partner was promoted for her gender and sexuality.
During the same 10-year period, according to the court, Ch Insp Crouch sexually harassed a colleague. The harassment included “smelling her hair and rubbing her thighs in her presence.”
In addition to maintaining a list of colleagues he found attractive, Ch Insp Crouch was said to have “created a sexualized work environment by displaying images on his wall of famous women he found attractive.”
The court found that Ch Insp Crouch’s actions resulted in serious misconduct and he was fired with immediate effect.
“No place for sexual or discriminatory behavior”
Detective Superintendent Peter Fulton, head of BTP’s professional standards department, said: “Dealing with inappropriate sexual behavior is BTP’s number one priority, either on the rail network or in our own workforce.
“Officers like Paul Crouch are completely undermining our efforts and we are determined to eliminate people like him, because there is no room for sexual or discriminatory behavior within the British transport police.
“I would like to personally thank the colleagues who came forward and provided such convincing evidence that it was crucial to hold Crouch accountable.
“We will always support anyone who tells us to witness or experience this type of behavior, because without them it is not controlled.
“Initially, the legally qualified chairman of this hearing decided that Crouch’s name should be kept anonymous on the basis of watching football over the weekend and may be subject to hostility from other fans if they find out that it was a police officer.
“It simply came to our notice then.
“It is absolutely vital that we be open, transparent and accountable if we want to restore public confidence in the police.”