Police officer faces BNP probe

A police officer is facing a disciplinary hearing for allegedly supporting the British National Party. It is claimed he wore a badge linked to the far-right group while supporting a football team.

An investigation was started after Greater Manchester Police received information that the officer had items relating to the BNP at his home. They were supplied with photographs allegedly of the officer wearing the badge at matches. A preliminary hearing was held into the case and he will now face a full hearing - for wearing an 'inappropriate' badge.

GMP has declined to comment further until the investigation is concluded. A police spokesman declined to say what was on the badge but stressed there was 'no evidence' that the officer was a member of the BNP.

One source said: "The case raises possible issues linked to the force's commitment to racial diversity and would therefore go straight to a misconduct hearing."

Policy

Charles Crichlow, chairman of the GMP Black and Asian Police Association, said: "Having paraphernalia relating to any political party would be problematic for a police officer. The Association of Chief Police Officers has a policy on the BNP, which bans membership of that party, and that is the force view. Speaking hypothetically, if someone was found to have been wearing something associated with the BNP it would be a problem, and it is right that the force should look at that."

In a separate case, a GMP officer based at Manchester Airport was investigated after he filled in a form declaring that he bought a BNP magazine. The officer was moved from the airport, where he worked in an immigration unit, to police headquarters in Stretford, while a probe was carried out.

Investigating officers were satisfied that he was not a member of the BNP, or racist, and he was 'advised' about buying the magazine. It was accepted that he had purchased it for 'research purposes'.

St George's Day

Last year, a top level probe established that police officers were not involved with BNP members at an event to mark St George's Day in Manchester centre.

An inquiry was launched after an officer called to a disturbance in Exchange Square involving racist chanting said he thought off-duty police officers and staff had been involved with those causing trouble, some of whom were wearing BNP badges. An investigation trawled through hours of CCTV footage and interviewed 50 people present on the day.

It said one off-duty officer and one off-duty member of staff were innocently celebrating St George's Day. At no point did they have any dealings with a racist element in the crowd.

GMP was one of the forces whose trainees were caught making racist remarks by an undercover television programme. After the revelations in the BBC documentary Secret Policeman, the force pledged to eradicate racism in its ranks.

Manchester Evening News