Police chief slammed for video on ‘Pronouns Day’

A TOP policewoman has been criticised for ‘wasting time’ posting a video about International Pronouns Day when officers should be out ‘catching criminals’.

Julie Cooke, pictured, deputy chief constable of Cheshire police, said the day was important to anyone who identified as transgender or ‘gender non-conforming’ because ‘being mis-gendered can have a huge impact on somebody and their personal wellbeing’.

She added: ‘Today is about raising awareness, getting people to have conversations and understanding why it’s so important to understand the pronouns that somebody wishes to be used for them.’ The video, posted to her 2,231 Twitter followers on Wednesday, had garnered almost one million views last night. It had also attracted more than 6,000 comments, with some people branding the video ‘ridiculous’. One critic, feminist and author Julie Bindel, asked: ‘Why are you wasting time on this? Shouldn’t you be detecting crime and catching criminals?’ Responding to the criticism, the officer said: ‘I filmed a short, 30-second clip at no cost – either financial or to crime-fighting in Cheshire – to show our support to the LGBTQ community.’