Senior Met Special Constabulary officer dismissed without notice

The Chief Officer of the Met’s Special Constabulary has been dismissed after using his work phone to capture images of a sexual nature.

An accelerated misconduct hearing held on Friday, 9 October found that on two occasions in July and August 2025, Special Chief Officer (SCO) James Deller used his police-issued work phone to photograph images of a sexual nature that had been sent to his personal device.

The photographs, which showed intimate images of a woman, were originally sent to him using WhatsApp’s ‘View Once’ function.

Deller sent both photographs from his work phone to his personal one, before going on to delete them.

His actions were uncovered as part of Project Galatasaray – a week of action using advanced technologies to tackle corruption and professional misconduct in the Met.

In Deller’s case, lawful business monitoring (LBM) and Palantir’s Foundry system helped identify the images and other key evidence.

Commander Pete Stevens said: “The vast majority of Met officers and staff serve London with dedication and integrity, and they rightly expect robust action against the small minority who abuse their position and undermine public trust.

“That is particularly true of those who serve in the Special Constabulary. They are volunteers who selflessly give up their time to keep London safe. They deserve to be led by people who demonstrate the highest standards in all parts of their lives.

“SCO Deller failed to meet that bar. He let himself down but more importantly, he let the Special Constabulary down. His actions were an abuse of the trust put in him and it is right that he is no longer able to serve in policing.”

SCO Deller will now be added to the College of Policing’s barred list and will not be eligible to serve in policing again.

The Met is reviewing the future leadership and structure of the Special Constabulary as part of ongoing work to improve professional standards.