LONDON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Three British diplomatic police officers have been arrested and a fourth disciplined for exchanging pornographic images with each other, officials said.
Metropolitan Police said the three were arrested Dec. 19 for alleged "possession and distribution of obscene images." The diplomatic police control access to foreign embassies and Downing Street.
Of those arrested, one has been suspended and two others have been placed on "restricted duties," the BBC said. A fourth man was not arrested but was placed on restricted duties.
Investigators said the images were "extreme" but did not involve children. The officers allegedly sent the images to one another though it wasn't clear whether they did so while on duty.
The matter is being investigated by the department's internal affairs division.
It was not immediately clear what made the images rise to the level of criminal charges.
The porn charges first surfaced as part of Operation Alice, a Met investigation into allegations Conservative lawmaker Andrew Mitchell called members of the diplomatic police "plebes" -- a pejorative reference to a person of lower social class in England -- because they refused to open a gate at Downing Street for him to leave. Mitchell denied using the term but later resigned.
