Pc named on BNP member list sacked
Saturday, March 21 01:52 pm

A policeman named on the BNP membership list has been sacked by Merseyside Police. Pc Steve Bettley, of Merseyside Police, 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: "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."

Source

If a family member has added him and its police policy to not allow police officers to join the bnp then he is innocent.

But I did not know that police officers where restricted in who they could suppport.

Freedom of speech?

How pathetic!
This countries really begining to piss me off!

One more to the dole cue!

Retards

Well I have to say, I think it's pathetic!! I don't like smack heads or alcoholics, and I will be honest with my opinion on that. I don't think they should be treated on the NHS while genuinely sick people have to wait in pain for operations or can't get the drugs they need for their illness, but I still had to treat them when I worked in the NHS and be nice to them!!

I can't see the difference!!

To my mind, the Police have just lost a bloody good Officer!!

Shame on you!!

Maybe he can get the job of BNP Membership officer

He should get his feckin job back!! Scrap that - he shouldn't have lost it in the first place!

Lets not be 'politically correct' about this, lets just call a BNP member a good old fashioned racist.

Haven't we had this discussion before

I've been branded a racist because I believe I should be able to celebrate St George's Day as the other countries of this Nation do. Councils are telling us that we can't have the Flag of St George flying as it may offend people who are not English!! WTF!!?!?! Nobody brands the Irish, Scottish or Welsh for flying their national flag - so why are we??

Who's stopping you putting your flag up PJ? I promise you, nobody gives a toss. You're not a football hooligan and this isn't the 1980's.

Its called housekeeping - I would imagine the Police have to be seen to be doing their job when it comes to 'this sort of nonsense'. This man is an unfortunate casualty (scapegoat?), whether or not he was knowingly a member of the BNP. The falsely regarded perception of public outrage is a powerful thing.



Didn't you know - we aren't proud of our nationality. What the guardian-reading, sandal-wearers say, goes...

I should probably pull my foot out of my mouth on my BNP membership officer comment - just in case instant karma comes to get me...

We had a big hooharr over it in Cambridge, and I know of a fair few incidents where people have been told to take them down in case they "incite racial hatred/tension".

I'm not a football hooligan now, but I've not been a nice spectator in the past And that was the 1980's

It just angers me that this 1 Officer has been hounded out of his job because he "MAY" be a BNP member. Just because his name is on the list that was printed doesn't mean Jack. How many people in the public service sector actually ARE genuinely racist yet get to keep their jobs just because they are not on some poxy list!?!

I think your uniform fetish is getting out of hand PJ. Police aren't allowed to be memebers of the BNP. Racist police aren't a good thing.



Now that's just common sense. Nothing to do with 'bloody do gooders ruining the country', 'yoghurt weaving liberals' or 'political correctness gone mad'. Bye bye PC Bettley you racist scumbag.

Can I just ask....how many racist police officers are there in any force, regardless of membership to a knowingly racist organisation?

I think this was about publicity - keep up appearances. He had to be made an example of. That order probably came from far higher that the Chief.

What the hell is the problem with him being a racist in the police force?

He was only a driver so it wouldn`t affect anyone at all

Stephen Lawrence?

In 1999, an inquiry headed by Sir William MacPherson examined the original Metropolitan police investigation and famously concluded that the force was "institutionally racist" and has been called 'one of the most important moments in the modern history of criminal justice in Britain'.
"Q&A: Stephen Lawrence murder". BBC News. 2004-05-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3685733.stm. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.

I don't have a "uniform fetish" at all. Just because I rarely say anything bad about the Police, it does not constitute a "fetish" - I just happen to think they do a damn good job in $hitty circumstances!!

There is no clear evidence that he was a member

Unless they find the application form that is in HIS handwriting and signed BY HIM then there is no clear cut proof!!

And to call him a "racist scumbag" beggars belief IMO. I have stated in previous conversations along this line that I agree with SOME of the stuff in the BNP Manifesto - does that make ME a "racist scumbag" too???

I have read all the main partys' manifestos and can pick bits out of all of them that I agree with. It doesn't mean I support all the partys. It just means that I can digest and form an opinion about them, albeit a personal one.