No fewer than 50 officers and civilian employees have lost their jobs within police forces across England and Wales over the past three years for deceiving their employers about remote working.
The practice, dubbed "key-jamming", involves placing objects such as picture frames, staplers and fizzy drinks cans on computer keyboards to emulate activity while staff are instead absent from their desks.
Freedom of Information requests and public records have revealed that 14 constabularies have either dismissed personnel or compelled resignations following investigations into the deception.
The phenomenon emerged as hybrid working became commonplace following the Covid pandemic, with approximately 28 per cent of working adults engaging in some form of remote work during the first quarter of last year.
Greater Manchester Police has emerged as a particularly troubling example, where anti-corruption officers acting on a tip-off discovered 28 members of staff had been shirking their professional duties.
An internal audit utilising keystroke monitoring software, designed to flag abnormal keyboard patterns, exposed the widespread misconduct.
"Some of the staff were weighing down the space bar to pretend to be working, but instead were spending the day at the gym," a force insider revealed.
"People have been taking the mickey," the source added. "There are some police officers caught up in it, but it's mostly backroom administrative staff."
'Key-jamming' involves placing objects such as picture frames, staplers and fizzy drinks cans on computer keyboards to emulate activity while staff are instead absent from their desks
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Four individuals have been sacked and two others resigned. Chief Constable Stephen Watson has now prohibited home working entirely whilst investigations proceed.
Further dismissals from GMP are anticipated. Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods expressed gratitude for "the work of the anti-corruption unit for conducting this proactive operation to root out poor performance, dishonesty and conduct that is just not conducive with working for GMP."
Meanwhile, at Durham Constabulary, former detective Niall Thubron, who served on the high harm investigation team tackling serious crime, registered more than 16,000 presses of the "i" key within just 88 minutes on a single December morning in 2024.
His superiors attributed his behaviour to "laziness," and he retired before facing a misconduct panel.
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Greater Manchester Police found 28 members of staff were guilty of shirking their work load (stock)
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Kent Police Constable Ryan Lenton exploited remote working to frequent a gymnasium and golf course. Investigators determined he had faked online activity for more than 60 hours across 14 shifts.
PC Liam Reakes of Avon and Somerset claimed he held down the "Z" key for 103 hours to protect his mental health.
"This is deceitful and dishonest behaviour," declared the chairman at Mr Reakes's misconduct hearing. "The impact on the trust the public have in the police service will be damaged."
At Avon and Somerset, a sergeant identified only as Sergeant X for legal reasons was dismissed without notice after admitting she used a picture frame corner to prevent her computer entering sleep mode.
Barrister Mark Ley-Morgan, representing the constabulary, told the panel: "The raw data shows she was not doing anything in the periods she was key-jamming. She chose to take the dishonest route."
The officer expressed "deep sorrow and genuine remorse" but maintained she had not acted dishonestly.
Det Supt Larisa Hunt described the behaviour as "extremely disappointing," warning it could "discredit the police force" and "undermine public confidence."
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