Britain's most senior Black police officer retires after accusations of bullying

15 May 2023 , 07:24

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Deputy Chief Constable Tyron Joyce has reportedly retired

Britain's most senior Black police officer has left his job after being accused of bullying and discrimination by a female colleague.

Deputy Chief Constable Tyron Joyce was the head of the Police Race Action Plan, which aims to stamp out racism within forces across England and Wales.

He retired from his post following a complaint from his second in command, named as Liz Unwin.

Mrs Unwin is a senior female civil servant and was the previous leader of the action programme.

She was reportedly of an equal rank to Mr Joyce and had decades of experience.

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She left her role in January and lodged a formal complaint.

West Yorkshire Police headquarters

Mrs Unwin accused Mr Joyce of professionally undermining her in front of their colleagues, which led to a decline in her mental health, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Before taking up his role as head of the race action plan, Mr Joyce was the Assistant Chief Constable at West Yorkshire Police where he ran the National Police Air Service.

In 2019, an internal inquiry reportedly took place after multiple members of staff raised concerns about discrimination and bullying.

The Telegraph reports that the number of complaints could exceed six and allegations were said to include intimidation and making offensive and lewd comments in the workplace, as well as allegedly discriminatory comments about a disabled employee.

The allegations were sent to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog.

An IOPC spokesperson said: "We received a mandatory conduct referral from West Yorkshire Police in April relating to allegations of bullying and discrimination by a senior officer.

"After careful consideration of the available information, we determined the matter should be subject to a local investigation.

"We have also advised the force that any additional conduct matters identified during the investigation should be referred to the IOPC for further consideration."

The Mirror has contacted the IPOC for further comment.

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