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Trans-gender prisoners cause concern for officers
Lewisham
Police cite religion as reason not to frisk trans-gender prisoners
"This just shows that there is still discrimination and sexism in the force"
Prison officers in the London borough of Lewisham have expressed concern over frisking trans-gender prisoners.
The information was taken from minutes from a Senior Management team meeting, which was published online under the Freedom of Information Act.
The minutes revealed how the head of operations in Lewisham, Superintendent Wayne Nash raised concerns among his officers with the borough's top police workers. It read:
"Supt Nash has circulated some papers regarding searching trans-gender prisoners.
"Some officers have expressed concerns around searching trans-gender prisoners for religious reasons.
"This will be discussed in more detail outside the meeting."
Former Deputy Assistant Commissioner for London's Metropolitan Police Service, Brian Paddick, spoke out against their reasoning for not fulfilling their obligations and branded the force "sexist".
Paddick, who was once the most senior openly gay police officer in Britain, said:
"This just shows that there is still discrimination and sexism in the force.
"As far as I know there's no religion that says you can't search trans-gender prisoners is there?”
Recently Christian registrar Lillian Ladele’s case hit the headlines when she refused to perform civil partnership ceremonies on grounds of her religion.
While she originally won a "discrimination" case against Islington Council who took disciplinary action in response to her not performing her duties, the council appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which overturned the original judgment.
The EAT confirmed that the council’s decision to take disciplinary action against Miss Ladele was because she was refusing to carry out civil partnership ceremonies on grounds of sexual orientation, which was discriminatory and their action had nothing to do with her religious beliefs.
