Two officers including an Indian-origin Police Constable (PC) have been dismissed from Scotland Yard for their discriminatory behaviour, including a racist joke about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
The allegations against PC Sukhdev Jeer and PC Paul Hefford, both employed by the Metropolitan Police's Forensic Services, were proven true this week in a disciplinary hearing that was held in their defence, reported PTI.
The tribunal heard details regarding a number of racist posts, including one that may have included a derogatory reference to Markle, just before her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
“These vile messages were shared in 2018 within a closed WhatsApp group between a small group of officers. I hardly need to say it is completely unacceptable for anyone, let alone a police officer, to behave in such a manner. The actions of these three are inexcusable,” said Commander Jon Savell, Professional Standards, according to a report by PTI.
The officers were accused of gross misconduct for allegedly participating in a WhatsApp group on their personal phones between December 2017 and December 2018 while employed at the Central East Command Unit.
They made use of the group to share memes, messages, and other abusive, discriminatory, and inappropriate content, PTI reported.
“The whole of the Met is focused on rooting out anyone who displays this type of behaviour and lets down the Met and the public we serve. Behaviour like this will absolutely not be tolerated and we are driving that message home to our officers and staff at every opportunity,” Commander Savell added.
Added To The Barred List
Jeer and Hefford will be added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing.
The police constables were also accused of misconduct for allegedly failing to confront or report the other group members for their actions.
“This repulsive behaviour understandably damages that trust and I want to apologise to every single member of the public we serve in this area,” Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnett, who leads the Central East division of the Met Police told PTI.
"These officers have, rightly, been sacked. I do not want any officer who would engage in this sort of behaviour anywhere near your community. I will be personally emailing everyone who works at Central East to reinforce the message that words matter, respect matters, and every time someone sends this sort of message they cause real hurt,” he added.
The incident came to light when Richard Hammond, another former officer, had his phone looked at as part of a separate criminal inquiry
(With inputs from PTI)
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