Police are committed to building an anti-racist environment throughout West Midlands Police and to become an organisation that has zero tolerance to racism.
There is no place in our force for officers or staff who display racism or use discriminatory language or behaviour.
Last December one of our former PCs made inappropriate, discriminatory and racist comments towards a female colleague whilst both were off duty at a Christmas party.
The matter was subject to a criminal investigation which resulted in PC Joe Courtney being charged with two counts of committing a racially aggravated public order offence.
At Nottingham Magistrates Court in April he admitted the offences and was fined £200 and ordered to pay £200 compensation to the victim.
At a hearing today (17 June) chaired by Chief Constable, Sir David Thompson, the former officer was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to equality and diversity and discreditable conduct.
He would have been sacked from the force had he not already resigned on 7 June. He will now be placed on the barred list which prevents him from ever working for the police again.
Sir David told the hearing: “There is very clear harm in this case to the victim. I have read the victim impact statement from the officer who received this abuse. It is utterly unacceptable and has caused upset. I am pleased she took a stand and was supported by colleagues. This is a difficult job and colleagues should support you not undermine you.
“Drink loosens inhibitions and loosens tongues. It does not put racist views in your head it lets them out. When we find people like Ex-Pc Courtney we will not only dismiss them but where they break the law we will put them before the courts.”
Sir David, who is the Race Inclusion & Heritage lead at the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), said after the hearing: “In order to improve confidence across all communities, and particularly to make policing a career choice for our under-represented groups, we must demonstrate we are committed to building an anti-racist police service.
“The behaviour of this officer is wholly unacceptable. It matters not that the words used came while he was off-duty. There is no place in policing for anyone prepared to use discriminatory language or behaviour.
“I know the language the victim, one of our own officers, was subjected to left her very upset and shocked; we continue to offer her our support.
“I hope the action we’ve taken, finding a case of gross misconduct and showing he would have been dismissed, helps with her recovery and demonstrates we won’t tolerate this type of behaviour. There simply is no excuse.”