Northamptonshire Police officer dismissed over 'offensive' remark

The officer joined Northamptonshire Police in December 2019

A police officer who used the word "blackitude" while on a training course for the use of stop-and-search powers has been sacked.

PC Mehmet Akkaya, of Northamptonshire Police, had asked colleagues if any of them had dated a "black girl", a misconduct panel heard .

He said: "I could never go out with a black woman. Too much blackitude."

He was dismissed for gross misconduct after a panel ruled the language could be "perceived to be offensive".

Mr Akkaya, who told the panel he was of Jamaican and Turkish heritage, was dismissed without notice.

The officer used offensive language during training at Northamptonshire Police headquarters in February 2020

The officer, who was talking to colleagues while on a break from the course, also said: "If I was going out with a black woman I'd take the weave off her head and slap her across the face with it."

A police misconduct panel was told colleagues complained about his comments, made in February 2020.

The hearing decided the language he used was "apparently racist and/or condoning violence" and "discourteous and discriminatory".

"The use of this language could reasonably be perceived to be offensive by the public or policing colleagues," the panel ruled.

The incident had "the potential to seriously damage the reputation of Northamptonshire Police", it added.

In a written apology, the officer explained his words were meant to be "light-hearted".

He apologised without reservation and accepted his language was "inappropriate and unacceptable" but did not accept he breached standards.

Social scientist Richard Bramwell, of Loughborough University, was asked to define the word "blackitude" at the hearing.

Mr Bramwell said it was not "derogatory" or "racist".

In his report for the panel, Mr Bramwell said: "In my opinion, the ordinary British use of the word, conveys a sense of pride, knowledge and confidence in relation to black culture."

Northamptonshire Police's senior investigating officer and equalities officer recorded the complaint as a hate incident.