'Woke' police force recruits 'get sick when blue lights are on and bring parents to work'

21 March 2022, 07:11 | Updated: 21 March 2022, 07:41

Young police recruits have been criticised
Young police recruits have been criticised. Picture: Alamy

By Will Taylor

New recruits to the police are getting sick when driving with their emergency vehicles' flashing lights on while their parents are treating them like children.

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One newly-trained officer arrived for his first shift at West Midlands Police with his mother because he was nervous, while other parents have grumbled about their children being hungry or overworked.

A source told The Sun: "Several new officers are getting car sick at speed on blue lights and asking the driver to stop. It's shocking."

They added: "It’s like being back at school. This is a police force and we have people not living in the real world."

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They claimed that a parent once called in demanding to know where their child was because they "should have finished by now and I'm outside waiting to take him home" and one mother in Wolverhampton rang up to say her daughter was upset by a job she was sent on.

The paper reported that the source worried policing was being affected and recruits on a degree apprenticeship were among the worst examples they saw.

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But Chief Constable Sir David Thompson said West Midlands had "outstanding student officers".

His force was criticised as "woke" last year when it advertised a role for assistant director of fairness and belonging that would rake in more than £74,000.

The force said at the time that it needed to reflect the diverse communities it serves.

Concerns about "woke" policing were reflected in comments last year from Greater Manchester Police's new chief constable.

Stephen Watson said the public was "fed up" with virtue-signalling from officers as he took over a force that was put into special measures after it was found that 80,000 crimes had unrecorded.