It’s a swear cop... officer rapped for making rude gesture at illegal biker
IT is hardly the way that police recruits are taught to salute. But one officer reacted to being taunted by a thug in a way that is not in his force’s training manual.
As the youth, who was riding a motorbike illegally, waved and did a wheelie, the policeman raised his middle finger in reply. Unfortunately for the officer, he was pictured making the obscene gesture.
The footage was uploaded to the internet – prompting an investigation by his force for ‘unacceptable’ behaviour.
But news of the investigation sparked anger among some, who insisted he should not be disciplined for being rude to an offender. And he found some
‘Unacceptable behaviour’
sympathy from his own chief constable, who stepped in to defend the officer.
Replying to a post on Twitter, West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: ‘I feel the objective should be to find the thug on the bike not the officer.’
In the video, filmed in Birmingham, the rider – on an illegal off-road bike – waves sarcastically, before revving his engine and pulling a wheelie as he speeds past a police van.
The officer at the wheel of the van can be seen showing his middle finger. The footage was uploaded by a group called Bikelife Birmingham, which posts videos of stunts online.
In a statement, the force said: ‘This behaviour is unacceptable and falls below the high professional standards we expect.’ On Twitter, one user, Peter Kirkman, wrote: ‘So not only do the bosses prevent cops dealing with law- breaking scum, they launch a major investigation into cops being rude to them.’
Mr Thompson replied: ‘I have just seen the article. I have some sympathy with your observa- tion. You can leave this with me.’ The force says it regularly receives complaints about antisocial and dangerous use of offroad and quad bikes.