THE MOST senior black police officer in Britain, who was in charge of combating police racism across all forces in England and Wales, has resigned amid claims of bullying, as revealed by The Telegraph.
Following a complaint by his second in command, Dep Chief Constable Tyron Joyce, the leader of the Police Race Action Plan has retired.
Only a few specifics surrounding his resignation from policing have been made public.
According to reports, the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) received a complaint from a senior female government official and submitted it to local police for inquiry on Sunday.
The IOPC 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.”
West Yorkshire police declined to comment, stating that they can’t speak about a specific person by name.
Additionally, they remained silent when asked if they were looking into a previous senior officer.
The NPCC said: “We were notified of DCC Tyron Joyce’s decision to retire and therefore step away from his role as programme director.
“The senior responsible officer for the work strand remains chief constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the NPCC and the programme of work will continue as normal.”
The IOPC received the accusations against Joyce on April 19 of this year. On April 27, the IOPC tasked them with returning to West Yorkshire to investigate this.
Joyce held the position of highest-ranking black police officer in England and Wales until his retirement.
Joyce oversaw the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC)’s racism action plan as its programme director. According to the council, he informed them of his decision to resign on May 2.
He was an assistant chief constable at West Yorkshire Police before being hired by the council to oversee the race strategy.
The Race Action Plan, an effort to eliminate prejudice against the public and inside the police, was introduced by the NPCC following George Floyd’s death in the United States in 2020, at the hands of a police officer, which sparked protests all over the globe, including in the United Kingdom.
The racial action plan is still having issues three years later, but the NPCC is adamant that the scheme will go on without Joyce.
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