A Gloucestershire Police officer, PC Ashley Reid, who employed a homophobic slur as two youngsters fled from him was deemed to have committed gross misconduct, according to a panel’s determination.
PC Ashley Reid of Gloucestershire Police acknowledged employing the word during the hunt for two missing youngsters in Coleford on 8 October.
He asserted that he whispered the slur in frustration as the children fled, although the panel conducting a hearing on Wednesday determined that another police officer, a social worker, and the two youngsters distinctly heard his words.
The panel at the force’s headquarters in Waterwells determined that a final written warning of two years constituted “the appropriate and proportionate sanction.”
Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson, chair of the panel, stated: “The utilisation of homophobic language is, and will perpetually remain, intolerable and incompatible with the duties of a police officer.”
The tribunal determined that PC Reid, a police officer with 14 years of service, promptly apologised and has subsequently demonstrated authentic regret and an understanding of the offensiveness of the phrase employed.
He was subsequently determined to have violated the rules of professional conduct concerning Authority, Respect, Courtesy, and Discreditable Conduct.
Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson, chair of the panel, added: “The use of homophobic language is, and always will be, unacceptable and is not compatible with the role of a police officer.”
The hearing found PC Ashley Reid, who has 14 years of service as a police officer [THAT IS A LOT OF TIME OR HIM TO MAKE “MISTAKES”], immediately apologised and has since exhibited genuine remorse and insight into the offensiveness of the term used.
He was subsequently found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to Authority, Respect and Courtesy and Discreditable Conduct.
In handing him a final written warning, ACC Mathieson said: “PC Ashley Reid was in a position of trust and had a role to safeguard the children, who were vulnerable due to their age, and the public would expect him to be held to account.
“This was a case of one single word said in isolation, in the spur of the moment, immediately followed by an admission and genuine and remorseful apologies to the two people PC Ashley Reid believed had heard him.”
ACC Mathieson said the comment “was not planned or targeted towards any specific individual or group”.
“The panel therefore concluded, when considering all the circumstances and context, that a final written warning of two years was the correct and proportionate sanction in this case,” he said.
The full outcome will be published by Gloucestershire Police on its website.
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