Police forces are allowing trans officers to carry multiple warrant cards depending on the gender they choose on a given day.
At least 11 forces in England and Wales use the policy, blasted as dangerous by women’s groups.
Trans officers can receive two warrant cards, or more if they are ‘gender fluid’.
Police officers use warrant cards to identify themselves and they must be shown before using powers including stop and search.
Two thirds of forces also allow biological male trans officers and civilian staff to use women’s showers, toilets and changing rooms, according to a Freedom of Information request by the Daily Mail.
MPs and campaigners last night said the policies threaten women’s safety and could breach the rights of police staff, suspects and victims.
Twelve of the 47 forces quizzed about their policies said they allow trans officers to carry multiple warrant cards.
And 28 said they allow trans staff to use the facilities of the gender with which they identify. Five forces did not respond.
A police officer has his face painted during the York Pride parade on June 03, 2023 in York, England
Maya Forstater, the executive director of charity Sex Matters, warned: ‘This is a scandal waiting to happen.
‘Allowing any man – whatever he calls himself and whatever he is wearing – to walk into women’s showers, changing rooms and toilets, or to search, including strip search, women is a violation of women’s dignity and an abuse of power.
‘Female police officers, suspects and victims should be given respect and protected from abuse, but instead police forces are using them as props to validate trans-identifying male officers. Police forces carrying out these policies are engaging in state-sponsored harassment and sexual assault.’
She said the case of Met officer Wayne Couzens – who abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard after winning her trust with his warrant card – shows ‘no one can be treated as beyond suspicion’.
The Conservatives pledged in their election manifesto that they would change the Equality Act 2010 to ensure it is clear that protections based on sex apply exclusively to biological sex.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Biological males should under no circumstances be using female facilities – in police stations or anywhere else. The government must review this approach and put the safety of women first.’
The Mail asked all 43 forces of England and Wales about their policies, as well as Police Scotland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, British Transport Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
Those already allowing biologically male trans officers to use women’s facilities include Thames Valley Police, Essex, Leicestershire, Avon and Somerset, Dyfed Powys, Merseyside and Police Scotland.
Thames Valley – which claims its policies are not ‘formal’ – allows officers to carry ‘multiple’ warrant cards, as do others including Norfolk, Cheshire, and Leicestershire. Others, such as Bedfordshire and Essex, allow two warrant cards.
Essex’s policy states that during early transition ‘there may be a need… to have two warrant cards, so that any off-duty incidents whilst living in acquired gender, do not result in the staff member having to ‘out’ themselves when proving identity’.
One card displays the individual’s force number and surname only, while the other has their force number and full name.
Police officers get ready to arrest the protesters blocking the road during the demonstration. Just Stop Oil activists from the LGBTQ community sprayed pink paint and blocked the Pride In London Parade by sitting in front of a Coca-Cola truck
Seven forces including the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police and Cumbria said they were reviewing their trans policies or creating a ‘framework’
Seven forces including the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police and Cumbria said they were reviewing their trans policies or creating a ‘framework’, while seven including North Wales, Hampshire, Northumbria and Lancashire said they had ‘no policy’.
Northamptonshire, Surrey, North Yorkshire, British Transport Police and the Police Service of Northern Ireland failed to respond to the information request.
Norfolk’s policy appears in a document called Trans Equality at Work (Officers and Staff) which was drawn up in conjunction with the Police Federation, public sector union Unison and ‘staff support networks’ and outlines measures intended to prevent staff being discriminated against.
One section states: ‘All trans individuals are entitled to use the toilet, shower and changing facilities appropriate to their gender identity.
‘Where this does not fit a binary definition of gender, the individual is able to choose where they feel most comfortable, recognising that some but not all buildings have facilities that are not gender specific.’
In 2022, the National Police Chief’s Council issued guidance that stated women could be strip-searched by transgender police officers who were born as men. Refusal could lead to being accused of a hate incident. The guidance was later withdrawn and is under review.
Retired police superintendent Cathy Larkman, national policing lead for the Women’s Rights Network, described the policies as ‘misogyny writ large’.
‘It’s reprehensible that policewomen are expected to change and shower in the presence of male officers and staff. Why on earth would any parent encourage their daughter to join the police now and subject themselves to this indignity?’ she said.
‘I’m told time and again by serving female officers and staff that they are either silenced or their views dismissed totally. They haven’t been asked whether they consent to this intrusion on their basic human rights, they are simply meant to comply and shut up.
‘Police chiefs care more about slavish adherence to gender ideology than the privacy, dignity and safety of their own officers and staff. That is utterly shameful.’
Steve Perkins, a former Met officer who quit last year after becoming disillusioned with the force, claimed freedom of choice for trans employees was already happening there informally
She added: ‘It should not be a surprise to anyone that a police service prepared to permit state-sanctioned sexual assault in allowing male officers to strip search female members of the public and to force their female officers to strip search men, would value their dignity and safety in the workplace so little.’
Steve Perkins, a former Met officer who quit last year after becoming disillusioned with the force, claimed freedom of choice for trans employees was already happening there informally.
‘The Met policy was that it was for the individual who chooses to identify as a specific gender, or no gender, to choose which facility they felt most comfortable using,’ he said.
‘This didn’t require anything more than them deciding themselves. No gender certificate was required.
‘I have a strong view that this is wrong. What about the rights of the usually biological women feeling comfortable in their own facilities? It shouldn’t be down to the transitioning person to decide.’
Mr Perkins added his wife, who left the force after 15 years as a civilian staff member, was left feeling ‘violated’ after a man she knew, who had started identifying as a woman, walked in on her when she was changing in a Met facility.
Retired undercover Met detective Peter Bleksley, who formerly hosted Channel 4 show Hunted, added: ‘[Some] forces let them strip search women.
‘It’s all outrageous and putting women at risk. Woke nonsense ideology gone mad.’
A Met spokesman said: ‘At present there is no formal policy in place for transgender and gender diverse staff and officers. The policy is currently in early development stages and will then go out for consultation across the organisation. It will provide clear guidance for officers, staff and line managers’
A College of Policing spokesman said: ‘All employers, including policing, are required to comply with the Equality Act, and equality legislation set by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the independent statutory body with the responsibility to encourage equality and diversity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, and protect and promote the human rights of everyone in Britain.’
An NPCC spokesman said: ‘Forces are all operationally independent so any policies would be prepared locally. NPCC will often issue guidance but this is not usually a directive and the force will make their own decisions about how to manage a particular issue or process.’
The Home Office declined to comment as the NPCC had provided a statement.