A volunteer police force chief in the Metropolitan Police is sacked after an internal investigation finds sexual images on his work phone. Special Chief Officer James Deller, who leads the force’s Special Constabulary, is removed from his role following an accelerated misconduct hearing.
The BBC and other outlets report that Palantir-linked AI monitoring identifies that Deller copied or captured intimate images using a police work device. Sky News says he used the work phone to take images of a sexual nature. The Evening Standard and Daily Mail add that the images were shared with him via WhatsApp’s “view once” feature before being recorded on his phone.
While outlets differ in emphasis—some focus on the use of Palantir AI monitoring, others on WhatsApp “view once” and the method of capturing images—they broadly agree on the outcome and the core facts: a Met volunteer leader is dismissed after technology-assisted checks find sexual images stored on his work phone and the case proceeds through misconduct proceedings.
