PC James Patrick told not to use Twitter after collection of his blogposts published as a book

A police whistleblower is facing an inquiry into alleged gross misconduct and has been told not to use Twitter after he raised concerns about the reform of the service on the social media site.

James Patrick, a constable in the Metropolitan police, is one of four officers to have been encouraged or told not to use social media by senior managers at forces in England and Wales in the past few weeks.

Patrick has spent months highlighting on a blog and on Twitter his belief that cuts to the police service and reforms will affect public safety. His lawyer Karen Todner said he had tried to raise these issues with his senior officers to no avail. She said: "He is a whistleblower and what this is about is freedom of expression. This is someone who has tried to raise his concerns through the legitimate channels but was not able to do so."

Todner said Patrick had been placed on restricted duties by the Metropolitan police and ordered "not to have contact with the public, external agencies or stakeholders".

In the past week the police have welcomed details in the Leveson report, which called for a clampdown on whistleblowers within the service going public with their concerns. Andy Trotter, who leads on media policy for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), backed the section on whistleblowers.

Patrick blogged and tweeted under his own name about his concerns over the reforms to the police service, the introduction of police and crime commissioners and the impact on the public. He has recently had a collection of his blogposts published as a book, The Rest Is Silence.

His lawyer said the Met was investigating him for gross misconduct for "writing a book about the police service in contravention of MPS [Metropolitan police service] policy" and because "some of the contents of the book could be harmful to the reputation of the police service".

Patrick, whose Twitter account has 2,599 followers, is one of four officers who are being investigated for Twitter use or have been advised about their activities by senior officers.

An officer tweeting as @Kennyplod was suspended for two months by Dorset police and investigated for gross misconduct after a series of lighthearted tweets, including a joke that a Saga cruise ship coming into port had "bifocal portholes". It is understood he was told this tweet was potentially offensive to older people.

Another tweet that angered senior officers linked to a picture of two seagulls fighting and suggested they were fighting over "a bird", which was deemed potentially sexist. A further tweet praising police officers for filling in for G4S staff at the Olympic Games was deemed a security risk by senior officers.

In the Greater Manchester force, an officer stopped tweeting after being spoken to by senior officers. PC Andy Hall, tweeting as @gmpradcliffe had joked about the high price of chocolates, posting a message: "#crimeupdate Cadburys Starbar 78p!!? Maltesers 80p!!!" He also posted lyrics from Coldplay and the Killers on his police account. On Tuesday he tweeted: "I'm going back out on to your streets, where I belong. This is my last ever tweet. See you out there. Take good care Radders. I'm Andy Hall?"

Another officer Regie Butler, tweeting as newquaysarge, has been advised over his use of Twitter. Butler's force, Devon and Cornwall, recently advised another of its officers, Sarah Giles, to stop tweeting.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard confirmed Patrick was under investigation. "A serving police constable currently based within territorial policing will be the subject to gross misconduct proceedings. He has been placed on restricted duties as of Friday 30 November and an inquiry is being carried out by the department of professional standards."

The Greater Manchester force confirmed Hall had left Twitter. A spokesman said: "Our neighbourhood officers share information and speak to the communities they serve and we encourage them to use social media to do this. We receive positive feedback from people who use networks to speak to their officers. Officers receive training and support but we accept this is a new way of communicating and we will not always get it right. This is why we continually ask people for their views and use it to improve what we do."

Dorset and Devon and Cornwall police could not be contacted.

In October the Guardian highlighted the cases of two officers who had been disciplined over Twitter use. Northamptonshire police has closed down four police Twitter accounts after Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary raised concerns.

Gordon Scobbie, who speaks for Acpo on social media, has told the Guardian that forces needed to avoid being heavy-handed when responding to mistakes made by officers on Twitter.