A UK police officer has been jailed after being caught on CCTV stealing a woman’s underwear during a house search.
Marcin Zielinski, who served with Hertfordshire Police, was recorded on camera picking up a pair of pink underwear and slipping it into his back pocket during a search in September 2024, according to the BBC.
The footage, captured last year, was recently released on TikTok by the woman involved after Zielinski was sentenced to four months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court.
What did the woman say?
The woman wrote online, “On the 12th of September, 2024, my husband opened the front door to multiple police officers (more than needed for little old me). I was arrested, handcuffed, searched, and taken to Hatfield Police Station for an allegation that wasn’t true, and the outcome was no further action.”
She went on to describe what the Ring camera in her home revealed: “While I was in the cell, my house was searched, and PC Marcin Zielinski went into my underwear drawer and picked a pair of my underwear that he wanted and put them in his back pocket away from the body camera.”
What did the video show?
The video, now circulating across social media, shows Zielinski opening a drawer, rifling through it, and then placing a pair of pink underwear into his back pocket.
Hertfordshire Constabulary Assistant Chief Constable Genna Telfer condemned the actions, telling the outlet:
“Zielinski has let down the public of Hertfordshire, the police service as a whole and his former colleagues, who act with professionalism and integrity. His criminal behaviour damages the reputation of policing and represents a fundamental betrayal of the public and the values for which the police service stands.”
Zielinski admitted to one charge of corrupt or improper exercise of police powers and privileges, as well as a charge of theft.
