Bedfordshire Police officer sacked over racist remarks on night out

Former Sergeant Chris Padley was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour of Equality and Diversity, Authority, Respect and Courtesy, and Discreditable Conduct during an Accelerated Case Hearing on Friday, September 27 – and that amounted to gross misconduct.

The former officer was on a night out in April when he used abusive and highly offensive racist language on more than one occasion.

He was reported by his colleagues and was subsequently suspended while an investigation took place. He was dismissed without notice at the hearing and has also been placed on the College of Policing barred list.

Deputy Chief Constable Dan Vajzovic said: “Chris Padley was not only a police officer, but a supervisor and leader and should have been setting and upholding the high standards that we expect of our officers and staff.

“There is no room for racism in our force and we are working tirelessly to build trust and confidence of those communities that have traditionally trusted policing less.

“This officer’s behaviour was not only in breach of professional standards, but also went completely against our force values. I would like to praise those colleagues who acted as upstanders for others by calling out Padley’s behaviour and reporting him to our professional standards department.”