The head of the West Midlands Police Federation is taking legal action after being ousted for rejecting claims that racism is widespread among his colleagues. The Telegraph has the story.
Richard Cooke, who was elected to represent 7,000 rank and file officers in the country’s second largest police force, was suspended and banned from standing in recent elections following comments he made on the X social media platform.
Responding to claims made in a Channel 4 news report that racism and misogyny were widespread in West Midlands Police, Mr Cooke wrote: “…I don’t recognise these attitudes. They do not represent us – we are an anti-racist organisation.”
In a second tweet, he dismissed suggestions that the force had done nothing to tackle racism, writing: “Nonsense – and so was the report but these reporters rarely bother checking their sources.”
Following the remarks, which were made in December, Mr Cooke was suspended by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) from his position as branch chairman pending an investigation.
Bosses at the police union claimed his comments risked “alienating those of our members who might be victims of discriminatory treatment – effectively leaving them with nowhere to turn for support and representation’”.
It is understood the suspension came after the two officers who had featured in the original Channel 4 News report lodged a complaint.
Mr Cooke lodged an appeal against his suspension but that was dismissed at a hearing in March he was not invited to attend.
He was also banned from standing for election for three years meaning he was not on the recent ballot papers and so has now been replaced as branch chairman.
With the support of the Free Speech Union he is challenging the process in the courts and is looking to join forces with Rick Prior, the former chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, who was sacked in similar circumstances for comments he made in the media.
Mr Cooke, who has been elected as branch chairman in three separate elections since 2018, said he had been the victim of a “witch hunt”.
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