A police sergeant has a case to answer for gross misconduct after a man complained his religious head covering was forcibly removed in a custody suite.
A police sergeant has a case to answer for gross misconduct after a man complained his religious head covering was forcibly removed in a custody suite.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said they investigated the actions of seven officers after a Sikh man said he was left traumatised and felt disrespected following the incident in October last year.
The complainant said the treatment he received in the custody suite in Perry Barr, Birmingham, was discrimination against his religion and labelled it a “racial hate crime”.
A West Midlands police sergeant may have breached police standards, the investigation concluded, but CCTV suggested the head covering was not stamped on at any stage, the IOPC said.
The police watchdog said they assessed body-worn video as well as CCTV footage from the custody suite, in addition to accounts from the complainant and officers in attendance.
Following the investigation’s conclusion in May 2022, the IOPC said the police sergeant’s alleged breaches of professional standards related to equality and diversity, authority, respect and courtesy.
They also related to use of force in the police sergeant’s handling of the situation and his decision to remove the man’s head covering.
IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell said: “This incident caused significant unrest within the local community at the time and false videos shared on social media did understandably cause some major concern.
“However, we established early on in our investigation, having viewed the custody suite CCTV, that the man’s head covering was not stamped on at any stage.
“We carried out a thorough investigation which looked into the actions of all officers involved and concluded that a police sergeant had a case to answer for gross misconduct.
“It will be a decision for a misconduct panel, chaired by a legal qualified chair, to determine whether the allegations are proven.
“We have advised the complainant of the investigation outcome and a misconduct hearing for the police sergeant will now be organised and carried out by West Midlands Police.”
The IOPC said they determined there was no case to answer for misconduct for the other six officers, but that four of them would benefit from taking part in reflective practice to learn from the incident.
Published: by Radio NewsHub Source : Radio News Hub
