Has he done anything wrong?

[anotheoldgit]

http://tinyurl.com/3yctvlx

By the very fact that this guy is a Police Officer (a senior one at that) he will not get much support on this site. but the question has to be asked, in the real scheme of things, has he really done anything wrong?

Has he done anything more than to turn a perk of his job to his own advantage, and have not most of us done similar.

One such example that I see most times I fill up my car with petrol, and that is on the forecourt of my local supermarket.

The drivers of large commercial vehicles, belonging to various well known companies queue so as to fill up the very large tanks of their vehicles with litres upon litres of diesel.

This in turn gains points towards £5 vouches to spend in the supermarket, I don't suppose it costs almost anything for their weekly shop, taking into account the litres they must use a week.

[sara3]

it depends on whether this policy was made clear to him. if he has no excuse for not knowing.. on his own head be it.

it seems a bit harsh to me, but rules is rules!

[bednobs]

don't people who work for commercial companies use fuel cards which you then can't get store points on? And if they use their own money to buy petrol, then why shouldn't they get points?

[Sqad]

What is the big deal.....for me the only travesty in this, is that he was found out.

How many ABers can honestly say that the have lived a honest "fiddle free" life?
.............there will be some no doubt !

[ummmm]

I don't think he's done anything wrong. My OH fills up the works van and collects the points on it.

[standian]

depends if there was a policy which covered this. Where I work, even though I fill the car with petrol paid for by me, I can claim it back on expenses so the company would still end up paying for my reward point perks - therefore not allowed to do it as it is a benefit in kind. Which seems fair enough and i was informed about well in advance and so have always worked to that. Sorry don't think it's harsh or unreasonable - he has turned a perk to his advantage, but there is a policy saying that it not permitted - and as a senior staff member should know and do better.

[anotheoldgit]

Fair point.

[rojash]

I think he's been a bit naughty, but not a big deal - don't forget any Police Officer involved investigating law breaking by newspapers is likely to find himself a major target of newspaper reports.

[modeller]

Some years ago I knew HDV drivers who furnished their homes by collecting Green Shield Stamps . Every time they filled up they were given hundreds of stamps. To them it was a perk that went with the job and when it was stopped some went on strike. However they were given a pay rise as compensation.
I think the PO was possibly in the wrong if it was against the services policy . Of course many civil servants and MPs have been doing it for years and it isn't illegal. It is also quite common in private companies. Whether it is morally right is another matter.

[Answerprancer]

/// By the very fact that this guy is a Police Officer (a senior one at that) he will not get much support on this site /// That's very presumptive of you AOG.

For once I agree with you, this seems like nothing more than spreading a little advantage amongst his family, I wouldn't condemn him for it.
No-one's perfect - even high-ranking police officials ;-)

[jake-the-peg]

He's done two things wrong.

Firstly he broke the policy by using the air miles for personal use - Given that he's an assistant commissioner there's not much excuse that he didn't know the rules.

These policies are presumably there to prevent a conflict of interest.

Secondly he evaded tax by not declaring them as a benefit in kind.

Presumably his knowledge of tax liability is less than his knowledge of police regulations so it's probably fair to assume that this was inadvertant and he didn't know the rules.

His actions rather undermine his senior position - it's rather easy to see how other Police officers might look at it and think "If he can bend the rules so can I !"

[youngmafbog]

So we have rounded up all the big tax dodgers so well that we can now start on those not declaring their Tesco points as benfit in kind. Well done to the Inland Ranvenue.

[Dozy-Mare]

Has he done anything more than to turn a perk of his job to his own advantage.
Hmmm im pretty sure the first time all those thieving mp's fiddled their claims they looked at it the same way.

[jake-the-peg]

Of course the other question is whether the public purse should be funding buisness class travel for publec sector workers like him in these tight times.

9 flights costing £32,000 in a year - that's a whole years salary for an extra policeman.

I'll bet if he had been the head of social services in a London borough we'd have had the "Tax payers alliance" making a big deal of it in the tabloids

[Gromit]

You are a bit off message here AOG.

The Mail on Sunday are digging for dirt on him because he plans to re-interview the Conservatives head of PR, Andy Coulson. Which could be embarrassing for Cameron.

[anotheoldgit]

Welcome back Gromit I know you must be a bit upset at the demise of your beloved Labour Party, but where are you going with this?

Is he any less likely to carry on with the reopened inquiry into allegations of phone hacking by News of the World journalists.

And it won't stop him withdrawing his plans to interview the paper's former editor Andy Coulson, even though he is David Cameron's director of communications.

If in the process any muck gets disturbed, David Cameron will want to be the first to be informed and if it is deemed there have been irregularities, the necessary disciplinary action will take place.

We are talking crystal clearTories here, not murky Labour.

Not only the Mail on Sunday reported on this but also the Independent.

[SeaJayPea]

Crystal clear Tories? Don't make me laugh.