Firearms Officer Issued Written Warning After Falling Asleep for One Minute While Armed TWO YEARS Ago

Firearms Officer Faces Scrutiny After Falling Asleep Armed in Police Vehicle: Misconduct Hearing Resolves Two-Year-Old Case

A South Yorkshire Police firearms officer has received a written warning after a misconduct hearing found he had fallen asleep while in possession of two loaded firearms. PC Samad Sagir, who was a passenger in the Armed Response Vehicle at the time, fell asleep for 'a minute' during the incident, which occurred over two years ago on 12 January 2022. The delay in concluding the investigation is likely to raise eyebrows among the public.

Documents published by South Yorkshire Police detail the findings of the hearing's panel, which concluded that PC Sagir should be issued with a written warning. While the panel also considered allegations of inappropriate and/or sexually harassing behaviour towards two officers, those claims were found to be unproven.

Falling Asleep (For One Minute) on Duty

The incident in question occurred on 12 January 2022. According to the published findings, PC Sagir was on duty as a firearms officer alongside another armed officer.

"The officer was a firearms officer. He was on duty with another firearms officer.

"They were deployed to the Woodlands area and arrived at about 4 am in the morning. They armed themselves and searched the area. They were then deployed to the Stainforth area.

"While on route the officer fell asleep in the passenger seat. He was still armed. He woke when a message came over the radio. He was only asleep for about a minute."

At the time, PC Sagir was armed with a loaded Heckler and Koch G36 Carbine and a loaded Glock 17 self-loading pistol. The documents further revealed that he had previously fallen asleep during two separate training sessions.

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When questioned about the incident, PC Sagir attributed his lapse to sleep deprivation caused by his young daughter struggling to sleep.

"He recognised that he should not fall asleep on duty and should not attend for duty if he was not fit to do so. He had felt fit enough to attend for duty on that day. He said he would not allow it to happen again.

"The safety mechanism was on the weapon when he fell asleep and there was no possibility of either weapon being discharged accidentally," the documents state.

The panel acknowledged that "the public would rightly be concerned if they knew that a police firearms officer had fallen asleep while on duty" but found that the concern would be "limited" as PC Sagir was in a police vehicle at the time and there was no risk to the public.

"His actions would affect public confidence in the force but to a limited extent given the circumstances," the panel stated.

The panel also noted that PC Sagir's actions were unintentional, that he had shown remorse and insight, and that his conduct did not result in any consequences.

Unproven Allegations of Inappropriate Conduct

The hearing also examined allegations that PC Sagir engaged in inappropriate and/or sexually harassing behaviour towards two colleagues, identified as PC A and PC B. The panel found these allegations to be unproven.

The allegations relating to PC A were detailed as follows: