A misconduct panel reported that three members of a "toxic" police unit had been sacked for gross misconduct after their "offensive" conversations were secretly bugged. The devices reportedly picked up "homophobic, racist and sexist" conversations in the offices of Hampshire's Serious and Organised Crime Unit in Basingstoke in 2018, the BBC reported.
Two other officers would have been sacked but had already left the force. The misconduct hearing was told in the 24 days the office was bugged - following concerns raised by a whistleblower - there was "enough profanity, casual sexism and racism to last a lifetime".
Det Sgt Oliver Lage, Det Sgt Gregory Willcox and PC James Oldfield have been dismissed while retired Det Insp Tim Ireson and former PC Craig Bannerman were the two who had previously left the force.
Trainee Det Con Andrew Ferguson, who sent colleagues a fake pornographic image of members of the royal family, has been given a final written warning.
Imposing the sanctions, panel chairman John Bassett said the conduct had been "shameful". He said police officers could not "pick and choose the standards they will abide by" in order to create more "cohesive" teams.
Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney said the force's internal investigation had revealed a "catalogue of sexist, racist, homophobic and ableist language and commentary that has rightly shocked us all".
She said, "These officers have failed to deliver on the promise they made to uphold fundamental human rights and accord equal respect to all people. They have undermined the trust and confidence of our communities and damaged the reputations of their colleagues."
