A POLICE officer who swapped professional wrestling for fighting crime "would have been sacked if she hadn't resigned" after a misconduct hearing was told she accessed incident reports on her rest days.

Former Southend police constable Amy Banks was found to have breached the standards of confidentiality and discreditable conduct at a hearing on Tuesday. 

The allegations referred to several incidents in which former PC Banks had used police systems to view reports of ongoing incidents while on annual leave and rest days.

PC Banks started a career in professional wrestling in her teenage years, performing in Los Angeles and wrestling in front of audiences of up to 1,000 people by the age of 20, before stepping out of the ring to join the community policing team in the city.

Ex-PC Banks did not attend the misconduct hearing this week and did not dispute she accessed these records. 

The panel heard former PC Banks had no lawful policing purpose to accessing the incident reports. She also unlawfully accessed three crime reports while not on duty.

The allegations were found proven following an accelerated misconduct hearing, which was chaired by Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington.

The hearing ruled PC Banks would have been dismissed if she was still serving. 

Chief Constable Harrington said: “As police officers we are the gatekeepers of honesty, integrity and professional standards.

“These reports must only be accessed by those at Essex Police who have a specific and lawful policing purpose to do so.

“I expect all officers and staff to use the extensive training we provide when trusted with the details the public share with us to help us deal with ongoing incidents and to keep the public safe. 

“Our officers are duty-bound to treat the sensitive information in these reports with respect. Ex-PC Banks failed to do this when accessing these reports.

“This expectation is observed by the overwhelming majority of my officers, but the actions of this officer fell well below the high standards set by Essex Police.

“Through prioritising professional standards, ensuring our officers and staff know what is expected of them and supporting those who do the right thing we will continue to deter and detect those who do not meet those standards.

“The communities of Essex can be assured that when officers breach our very high standards, we will always take robust action.”