A TOTAL of 100 British police officers and staff have been disciplined for circulating email images of a black man being decapitated.

Decapitation shown in email

From correspondents in London
November 29, 2006 05:08am

A TOTAL of 100 British police officers and staff have been disciplined for circulating email images of a black man being decapitated.

Fifteen of the most senior officers and staff at Hertfordshire Police were given formal reprimands, or the civilian equivalent, for distributing the message.

Another 85 were disciplined with either a formal warning or management advice.

The email contained a series of images, originating from the United States, entitled "Do not run from the police".

They purported to show a black suspect running from the police and then attempting to jump from a flyover on to a nearby building.

In the images, he falls between the two, decapitating himself on some railings. The final image is of the man's head on the railings' spikes.

Hertfordshire Police said it had mounted a five-month "robust" investigation into the distribution of the email, under the supervision of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

"I am disappointed by the conduct of officers and staff who distributed this inappropriate image that some people may have perceived as being racist," said Deputy Chief Constable Simon Ash, who oversaw the investigation.

"Through this investigation we have been able to clearly re-state the high standards of conduct required from everyone who works for us - this is no less than our public should expect and demand of us."

A total of 400 officers and staff at the force received the email, 300 of whom simply deleted it, police said.

The president of the Black Police Association, Keith Jarrett, said disciplinary action should have gone further.

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