Ex-Northumbria detective dismissed after gender-critical comments spark gross misconduct finding

Rachel Fletcher spent more than two decades as a detective with Northumbria Police, working with children and vulnerable adults. But she says her career changed after she began openly challenging policing policies around sex and gender.

She helped to found a gender-critical working group within the force, campaigning for women’s rights to be protected based on biological sex, which she believes led to management putting her on restricted duties and starting a gross misconduct investigation.

In particular, Ms Fletcher raised concerns about the policy’s impact on women in custody, including the possibility of male officers identifying as women carrying out strip searches on female detainees.

The policy was subsequently found to be unlawful following legal challenges.

At a misconduct hearing, she was accused of making comments about men and transgender women, which professional standards investigators said amounted to "hatred”.

Ms Fletcher allegedly told colleagues that “all men are rapists” – which she denies - and used the phrase “c*cks in frocks” while discussing the controversial strip search policy at work.

She was a vocal opponent of the force’s self ID policy, which allowed officers and detainees to self-identify as a different gender.

The guidance was in place between 2022 and early 2024 and meant searches could be based on gender identity rather than biological sex. It was later suspended amid criticism and legal concerns.

Under the policy, female officers could have been required to strip-search women or risk being accused of a hate crime.

The policy also allowed biologically male officers who identified as women to search female detainees.

Ms Fletcher told LBC that her comments had been misremembered or misconstrued.

“Investigating the kind of crimes we do - we’ve heard every word under the sun, and you use some of them in the office”, she said.

“I was discussing the strip search policy, saying ‘Imagine you’re a brand-new female cop and you go in and you’ve got a woman there and she lifts her top half and that’s all fine, and then she takes off the bottom half and there’s a c*ck.’

“That’s what I said - a discussion in the office - but one person claims that’s what I said trans people are, when approached later by professional standards.

“I don’t think they’re lying. I think they believe that’s what they heard, or they misremembered.

“It was really a case that [leadership] wanted to silence me because of my gender critical views and because I’d continually challenged the force and national leaders in policing for unlawful policy, procedure and guidance that disadvantage women.

“They went fishing for anything to shut me up.”

Ms Fletcher also claims comments she made about men were taken out of context.

She identified one conversation with a colleague in which she joked that putting all men under a 9pm curfew would prevent nighttime rapes.

She says the comment was “clearly intended as a joke” and did not reflect her actual views.

LBC understands another founder of the gender-critical group at Northumbria Police is also facing a gross misconduct investigation following allegations relating to an overpayment of wages. She was found not guilty at a criminal trial in January.

Ms Fletcher says her gender-critical views did not affect her impartiality or conduct as an officer, and that she never received a complaint from a member of the public.

She says she is “devastated” not to be doing the job she loves but is proud to have stood up for “the right thing”.

Northumbria Police told LBC that it is not commenting on Ms Fletcher’s claims, but a spokesperson confirmed the series of allegations:

“Between February and December 2023 and whilst on duty, the officer made comments about or in relation to men in general that were sexist, inappropriate and offensive.

“In or around January 2024, whilst on duty, the officer made a comment about transgender women in general which was transphobic, inappropriate and/or offensive.

“The panel found gross misconduct was proven in relation to both allegations and the officer was dismissed without notice.”