Police officers to be given course on 'banter' so they don't make offensive jokes

Police officers are being given courses on “banter”, it has emerged, in a bid to reduce the number of staff members feeling excluded and unproductive at work. 

The officers in Leicestershire had been hoping for a crime investigation course to improve their skills, but they are instead going to be taught about how to make jokes without causing offence.

The training, which officers first thought was a joke itself, is to help them understand the “fine line” between funny and harmful communication. It is said to “put political correctness in its place, recognise the benefits of fun at work and focus on the risk and responsibilities for all concerned”.

One police officer told The Times: “It's not a wind-up though it sounds like one. It shows the disconnect between the front line and HQ. 

“We could badly do with some crime investigation training at all levels but instead we get this.”

Banter is defined as the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks, usually in a good-humoured way.

Further information about the banter training appeared on Leicestershire police’s intranet.

Lynne Woodward, from the force’s equality unit, said the course was not aimed at controlling conversations between officers.

“We recognise the workplace should be a social environment,” she said.

Describing the course online the force said it hoped the training would teach officers about banter-related case law and how to minimise the risk of employment tribunal cases. 

The scheme also aims to help limit the number of staff who feel “excluded, unhappy and unproductive” in the workplace.

Practical advice will also be offered on how to “tackle banter in the workplace” and a “technique for having a challenging conversation about workplace banter”. 

It is believed this is the first force who have rolled out such a scheme across departments. 

The revelation comes just days after a Metropolitan Police officer was placed under investigation for telling colleagues that their behaviour needed to be “whiter than white”.

Police officer

The detective superintendent is said to have made the comment in a briefing to colleagues during which he discussed the need to be faultless and above reproach in carrying out inquiries.

But a complaint was made about his choice of words which was passed to the police watchdog for investigation.

An inquiry concerning an officer's use of the phrase "pale, stale and male" in another force is also said to be in progress.

Whilst the cost of the banter training course is not known the total police budget for 2018-19 is £12.3bn, but the National Audit Office says overall funding to forces, made up of central government grants and council tax, has fallen by 19 per cent in real terms since 2010-11.

Job cuts are the main way in which forces have attempted to manage the financial squeeze. The total workforce across forces fell by 18 per cent from a peak of 244,497 staff in March 2010 to 199,752 staff in March 2018, with a 15 per cent drop in police officers.