Username:
 Password:
 

Are you not a member?
Register here
Forgot your password?
 
 
 
 
 
 



NEWS > 17 March 2011

Other related articles:

City Suspends Officer In Misco
LORAIN, Ohio—Authorities say a northeast Ohio police officer who threatened a juvenile and behaved inappropriately in several other instances has been suspended for 25 days.

Lorain Safety Director Phil Dore says James Wolford was demoted last week from sergeant and started the suspension on Monday. He says Wolford has filed a grievance challenging the punishment.

The administrative charges against Wolford included inappropriately or incompetently handling police calls, engaging in gross or unprofessional conduct and retaliating against a fellow police officer.

Dore s... Read more

 Article sourced from

Strathclyde Police, UK
Herald Scotland
17 March 2011
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
Strathclyde Police, UK

UK: Police Sergeant guilty of race hate keeps his job

A police sergeant convicted of a race hate crime against a fellow officer has kept his job, The Herald can reveal.

Strathclyde’s Gavin Ross was fined £500 at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last year after being found guilty of racially abusing an Asian colleague at a Christmas night out.

However, the licensing sergeant has been told he can continue at his current position and rank after an internal police misconduct hearing.

His victim, Sergeant Amar Shakoor, last night said he was “deeply disappointed” with the punishment meted out to Mr Ross, who has had to forgo an anticipated pay rise.

Mr Shakoor, who is chairman of the Scottish Muslim Police Association, said: “He has been dealt with leniently. People who have committed similar offences got the sack.

“The force is supposed to have a zero-tolerance attitude policy towards racism, islamophobia, sexism and homophobia, and they should stand by that. This decision does not instill confidence among minority officers or the community at large.”

The Strathclyde officers worked together at the Tulliallan police training college in Kincardine, Fife, until Mr Ross used a race slur against Mr Shakoor at a staff night out on December 10, 2009.

Mr Ross denied making the remark but was overheard by another colleague at the dinner in The Unicorn restaurant in Kincardine.

It was alleged he called Mr Shakoor a “f****** Muslim b******”. But Mr Ross claimed he had been misheard and actually said he was “a f****** amusing b******”.

Mr Ross last year told Dunfermline Sheriff Court that he, as a gay man, would never make offensive remarks of that kind because he himself had been the victim of hate crimes.

News that Mr Ross had not been drummed out of the force – or even demoted – reverberated around Glasgow’s Muslim communities yesterday. Some leading opinion-formers in the community last night expressed surprise that action against Mr Ross had not been tougher.

Details of his misconduct hearing, however, are secret and it is not known what arguments he used in mitigation.

Humaz Yousaf, a list candidate for the SNP in May’s Holyrood elections, said: “Strathclyde Police enjoys a good reputation of engagement with the Muslim community.

“There tends to be a policy of zero-tolerance for racial, homophobic or any other type of prejudice.

“Therefore, it seems unusual such a lenient punishment has been meted out in this instance and it would be a shame if this had a detrimental effect on Muslim community relations, which Strathclyde Police have built up so effectively.”

Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson, who has overall responsibility for discipline, said: “This matter was dealt with by the courts and the officer was found guilty of a criminal offence and fined.

“The fact we had a serving officer with a criminal record was, subsequently, the subject of an internal disciplinary inquiry. This was overseen by a senior officer adhering to strict guidelines.

“Disciplinary action was taken against the officer.”
 
 


* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.


 
 
[about EiP] [membership] [information room] [library] [online shopping]
[EiP services] [contact information]
 
 
Policing Research 2010 EthicsinPolicing Limited. All rights reserved International Policing
privacy policy

site designed, maintained & hosted by
The Consultancy
Ethics in Policing, based in the UK, provide information and advice about the following:
Policing Research | Police News articles | Police Corruption | International Policing | Police Web Sites | Police Forum | Policing Ethics | Police Journals | Police Publications