Canterbury senior recruitment officer Senior Constable Kelvin McBride and a female colleague are under the spotlight after telling a Christchurch man the scarf he was wearing was too "gay" for the police.
Simon Calcinai, 20, was at the Careers Expo at the Westpac Centre in Christchurch on Sunday when two uniformed officers told him the scarf he was wearing was "a bit too gay".
"I was at the police table having a chat and the woman (officer) said 'you might want to lose that scarf'. The other guy then said 'Yeah, it's a bit too gay'," Mr Calcinai told The Press newspaper.
Mr Calcinai said Mr McBride had since emailed him an apology.
"Unfortunately, you have taken the comments personally and it certainly wasn't intended to offend," the email said. "Yes we do recruit lesbian and gay male officers."
Police national recruitment manager Dawn Bell said Mr McBride had acknowledged his comment was inappropriate and apologised.
A Christchurch police spokeswoman said the matter was "of concern" and would be investigated.
Meanwhile, Gay Pride Week organisers in Christchurch have invited Mr McBride to a workshop for homophobic people.
Spokesman Brent Mitchell told NewstalkZB an invitation was being sent to Mr McBride to attend the "Who Are You Hurting" workshop designed to counter sexually based prejudices.
Mr Mitchell said such stereotypical comments were "very disappointing".
