A police officer from the UK has been fired after it was found that she was using a picture frame to weigh down keys on her laptop to make it look like she was working.
Over the last few years, as working from home has become a more regular thing, some workers have found ways to make it seem like they’re at work when they’re actually not. Some of these are harmless, such as stealing an extra 10 minutes on lunch, or even running to a medical appointment.
However, for an Avon and Somerset police officer, she was fired from her role on February 25, following a misconduct hearing at the unit’s headquarters.
The investigation was prompted after the Avon and Somerset Police’s Professional Standards Department noted that the now-fired officer, Sergeant X, had “significantly high” keystrokes in 2024.
Fired officer had many more keystrokes than colleagues
“Evidence found Sgt X weighed down her keyboard on the majority of shifts she worked in April and May 2025,” the police department said.
“PS X gave an account of her actions and admitted using a corner of a picture frame to weigh down the keys so her laptop would not go into ‘sleep mode’, and she could therefore monitor calls on a separate screen during a time in which she suffered challenges in her personal life.”
The head of Avon and Somerset Police’s Professional Standards Department, Larisa Hunt, said that it was “extremely disappointing” behaviour, which could “discredit the police force”.
It isn’t the most unusual way that someone has been fired from their job in recent weeks. Back in December, a woman in Spain was fired for consistently arriving early to work.
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