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[tubby]

Merseyside policeman Steve Bettley sacked after BNP membership probe

A MERSEYSIDE police officer named in a leaked list of British National Party (BNP) members has been sacked.

Pc Steve Bettley was included in the list of the far right party’s entire membership register which was leaked on an internet blog.

The officer, who was briefly the driver for chief constable Bernard Hogan Howe, has been suspended from duty since the list became public last November.

A Merseyside Police spokeswoman said today: “A Merseyside Police misconduct panel has dismissed Constable Steve Bettley after concluding he had knowingly been a member of the British National Party from March 2007 and up to March 2008.”

The spokeswoman added: “In determining their findings, the panel confirmed there was no evidence that Pc Bettley had ever displayed any racist views or discriminatory behaviour in the workplace.

“The panel determined that Pc Bettley’s membership of the BNP is a clear breach of lawful orders and police regulations as the party’s views are incompatible with the duties and values of the Police Service.”

A ban on serving police officers joining the BNP was introduced by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) in 2004.

Merseyside Police Federation, which represented Pc Bettley at the misconduct hearings, said he accepted his name was on the BNP list but he denied being a member of the party.

He said he was enrolled in the party by a family member without his knowledge and he planned to appeal against the dismissal.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police Federation said: “We are disappointed with the finding and sanction of the misconduct panel and do not believe that there is any evidence presented to the panel which would indicate that he was knowingly a member of the BNP.

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Echo

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I know there are a few policemen/ex policemen on here and I was just wondering how many other BNP members do you think there is on the force? Im talking on a country wide level.

Going by his picture I am assuming he was just sick of not getting laid all these years and was lonley so wanted to join a nice after school group. 

[112-1077774096]

I was accused of being racist once, I stopped an asian for speeding and called him buddy (I had a thing about doing that to everyone at the time), anyway I was polite and let him off, it was early morning and no traffic on the road.

anyway i get a visit from complaints and discipline saying the guy had complained saying I said bud and he said he thought it was too similar to the noise made when people do the outboard motor noise taking the p!ss, so he said I was racist.

I just pointed out to the superintendent from C+D that if I was racist the surely I would have summonsed him for the speeding offence.

some people do themselves no favours.

In my time in the police I can say hand on heart I have seen on a percentage basis just as many whites stitched up as any ethnic race, it has nothing to do with skin colour how people are dealt with, it is to do with attitude of the person.

it has not been shown that this guy is racist, he has just gone against the regulation that bans membership, It appears membership has not clouded his judgement on any issues and I hope he gets his job back.

[tubby]

Thanks pewee. I was hoping you would see this as I know you mentioned before you were a policeman once. Was just curious.

[NANNY RED]

Enrolled in by a family member an he knew nothing about it yeh right im having that, What a load of rubbish, So he was a member an never took any notice of any literature that they surely sent him. His name was on the members list for a year an he never done anything about it, if hed been set up by a family member, WHY didnt he take his name off sooner then, he got found out thats why,

[112-1077774096]

Its strange as a policeman mate, there are certain things you can not do.

you cant have any other income (unless it is cleared),if you buy a house the area has to be approved, before you marry your partner needs to be checked out, you can't strike, so many fecking regulations. maybe it has changed now.

It hasn't even been proved that this guy knew he was a member, I am sure he wouldn't be so stupid to join BNP even if he was racist. The sad thing is I saw a report the other day that said there are 90 merseyside policemen with criminal convictions still in their jobs, this guy has done nothing criminal yet loses his job, and getting sacked means he loses his pension as well (if the required him to resign he would keep his pension)

[Madmax]

Guys a [email]w@nker..[/email] Hate the BNP scums .. Minority anyway!!

[Big Niall]

a policeman must be above suspicion of any bigotry. the bnp literature is racist and therefore it is right that he loses his job. he knew the rules.

[112-1077774096]

a policeman must be above suspicion of any bigotry. the bnp literature is racist and therefore it is right that he loses his job. he knew the rules.

but 90 merseyside officers are still serving with criminal convictions.

i disagree with you slightly niall in one respect, there has never been any incidents of racism during his service, it is possible to have a belief yet not show any bias. the line has to be drawn somewhere or we will have a situation where christian police can not deal with muslims if they don't agree that allah is the only god. we had it recently where a muslim police man refused to guard the israel embassy in london.

in my opinion as long as the belief does not affect the way the person does his duty then he should be allowed to carry on, and this guy has shown no signs of racism performing his duties. believe me there will have been an investigation into his conduct, arrests made, summons issued, colleagues will have been interviewed etc. The guy was a clean copper, he was even the chief constables driver ffs, this guy is just being made an example of so people can feel better about themselves and so merseyside police don't have to answer any questions.

The breach of lawful orders does not mean he should be sacked, there are other measures open, this will go to the home secretary and with any luck he will be reinstated

[Bam]

conflict of interest ?

[112-1077774096]

conflict of interest ?

the problem is bam its never been proven he was knowingly a member, he claims he never joined and he has never shown himself to be racist during his service.

it sets a nasty precedent, i arrest you, you find out my address and sign me up for the BNP then complain that I am a member

[dawson99]

my sister didnt get into the police force first time she tried... was told they had to even out the percentages of minorities on the force. So it did not matter who did what on the test, it was the color of skin that got you into the force. The same thing has happened to friends of mine joining the fire brigade. If my flat was on fire, i wouldnt give a monkeys who put it out, as long as it was the best person.

Sis is now doing her training so it worked out in the end.

[112-1077774096]

my sister didnt get into the police force first time she tried... was told they had to even out the percentages of minorities on the force. So it did not matter who did what on the test, it was the color of skin that got you into the force. The same thing has happened to friends of mine joining the fire brigade. If my flat was on fire, i wouldnt give a monkeys who put it out, as long as it was the best person.

Sis is now doing her training so it worked out in the end.

The year I joined, the day I did my entrance exam i was the only one who passed out of 15 people, i later spoke to two others and it was the same for them, 3 passes out of 45 people. This was before quotas. They then LOWERED the pass rate for ethnics to try and get them to join.

If that isn't racism I don't know what is. " we think you are too stupid to pass the exam so we will allow you lower scores than whites"