A police officer in the UK faced serious repercussions after being found guilty of gross misconduct for mimicking an Indian accent during a call reporting a hate crime in November 2022.
Former Police Constable Patrick Harrison chose to resign from the West Yorkshire Police before a judgment was passed by a misconduct panel, which deemed his actions discriminatory and described them as dehumanizing towards the caller, as reported by The Daily Mirror.
During a phone conversation between Harrison and the woman reporting the hate crime, he proceeded to imitate some of her phrases, unaware that she was still connected to the call. This conduct was promptly reported by the woman to the Islamophobia monitoring group, Tell MAMA, an organization that records anti-Muslim incidents in the UK.
Acknowledging his behavior as "unacceptable and inexcusable," Harrison admitted that it violated professional conduct standards and amounted to gross misconduct.
Chairing the panel, Katherine Wood emphasized that had Harrison not resigned, he would have faced dismissal from the force due to his deliberate and conscious discrimination.
The ruling stated that Harrison's actions constituted racial discrimination against the caller. Wood underscored the severity of racism and Islamophobia within the police force, noting that the panel would have recommended his immediate dismissal had he not already resigned.
Expressing remorse for his actions, Harrison offered to personally apologize to the caller. However, the panel highlighted the psychological distress caused to the woman, resulting in a loss of trust and confidence in the police force.
Concluding the proceedings, Wood emphasized the gravity of the former officer's actions, deeming them a breach of professional conduct standards related to Authority, Respect, Courtesy, and Equality and Diversity, ultimately qualifying as gross misconduct.
(With Agency Inputs)
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