West Yorkshire Police have received a complaint after a mother said her autistic teenage daughter was arrested for saying a female officer “looked like her lesbian nana”.
TalkTV’s Mike Graham is joined by former Met police DCI Mike Neville to discuss the video.
“It’s not an offence! If we had a row in my house that is not a public order matter because we are not in public!".
A video uploaded to TikTok by her mother showed the girl, 16, being detained by seven officers outside her home in Leeds in the early hours of Monday, August 7.
The force said the teenager was taken back to the house at about 1am after a family member reported that she was intoxicated and “putting herself at risk in Leeds city centre”.
Alongside the footage, the girl’s mother posted on TikTok: “This is what police do when dealing with autistic children. My daughter told me the police officer looked like her nana, who is a lesbian.
“The officer took it the wrong way and said it was a homophobic comment (it wasn’t).
“The officer then entered my home.
“My daughter was having panic attacks from being touched by them and they still continued to manhandle her.”
West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Oz Khan said: “We are aware of a video circulating on social media which, as is often the case, only provides a very limited snapshot of the circumstances of this incident.
“Officers had their body-worn video cameras activated during their wider involvement with this young girl which provides additional context to their actions.
“We have received a complaint in relation to this incident which is currently being assessed by West Yorkshire Professional Standards Directorate.
“While that ongoing process and the active criminal investigation limit our ability to fully discuss the incident in detail, we feel it is important for people to have some context about the circumstances.”
“From 12.12am on Monday, August 7, police received calls from a family member of a 16-year-old girl who was reportedly intoxicated and putting herself at risk in Leeds city centre.
“Officers attended at about 1am and drove the teenager to her home so she could be appropriately looked after.
“Upon returning her to the address, comments were made which resulted in the girl being arrested on suspicion of a homophobic public order offence. The nature of the comments made was fully captured on body-worn video.
“When the girl was eventually fit to be interviewed, that interview took place with an appropriate adult.
“She was later released on bail pending further inquiries and advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.
He added: “West Yorkshire Police takes its responsibilities around the welfare of young people taken into custody and around neurodiversity very seriously.
“We also maintain that our officers and staff should not have to face abuse while working to keep our communities safe.
“We are fully reviewing the circumstances of this incident and ask that people avoid reaching any conclusions about it solely on the basis of the social media video.”
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