A former Hertfordshire police officer has been jailed after stealing a woman’s underwear during a search at her home, in what senior officers have condemned as a “fundamental betrayal of the public.”
Marcin Zielinski, 27, of Shefford, Bedfordshire, was sentenced to four months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court yesterday (18 August). He admitted one charge of theft and a charge of corrupt or improper exercise of police powers and privileges by a constable.
The court heard that Zielinski stole an item of underwear while carrying out a Section 32 search at a property in Stevenage on 12 September 2024.
A woman living at the address had been arrested in connection with an unrelated matter, but she was later released with no further action taken.
Zielinski resigned from Hertfordshire Constabulary in November 2024 while under investigation.
Assistant Chief Constable Genna Telfer said:
“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 is now barred from working in policing.
