THE senior Dorset Police officer accused of claiming thousands of pounds of false expenses said he “didn’t give a stuff about a travel policy, I am there to save lives”.

Superintendent Michael Rogers is accused of gross misconduct after using police vehicles when he wasn’t allowed, “hugely” under declaring his mileage and claiming expenses he had not incurred, relating to incidents between 2015 and 2019.

Bournemouth Echo:

The officer, who has since retired from the force, broke down in tears as he told his misconduct hearing he “used to be called the lifesaver”.

Giving evidence, Rogers, who worked as a negotiator, said: “I never took a day off sick, I never took compassionate leave, I never took dependency leave, I worked my socks off. In my last ten years I never even had an appraisal.

“We [negotiators] saved hundreds of lives. As much as I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be at a Coroner’s court, because that’s much worse.

“If we are faffing around getting a vehicle to a young 16-year-old girl on top of a carpark in Poole and you do not get there in time, I would never live with it. I don’t give a stuff about a travel policy, I am there to save lives.

“I have been described as an arrogant individual, I serve the public and I serve my staff, I don’t serve a ludicrous bureaucratic system that nobody gives a stuff about, because they don’t.”

Rogers told the hearing when he took on the role as gold commander for major incidents, he was told “use the cars you want, use the hotels you want”.

He added he “probably worked too hard”, often clocking 55 hours a week, and the previous chief constable “used to call me action man”.

 “I am not beyond reproach, I have made my mistakes, but I serve the public and my staff as negotiators, that is proper policing,” he continued.

“I have never acted dishonestly. I have been a superintendent for 13 years. If I have cut corners, reduced the bureaucracy, technically a breach in policy, I unreservedly apologise.

“Am I going to claim £24 for a meal, with 27, 28, 29 years service, when I have got my pension at the end of it?

“Am I going to go in a [police] car if I don’t think I am on call?

“I am not going to run over a three-year-old on a pelican crossing in a Dorset Police vehicle when it then shows I went on some social event and I was not on call. I have always taken a vehicle when I believed I was on call, and I have done that since 1999.”

Rogers is accused of using his force car for around 900 miles of personal journeys, including carrying a sofa on the roof, and not properly declaring the mileage.

He is also alleged to have used a hire car instead of his company car for business use, as well as claiming more than £4,000 in meals from Dorset Police.

Rogers denies the allegations. His hearing continues.