WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock participates in a panel discussion during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 'Infrastructure Week' program May 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. The panel, titled 'Smarter, Faster, Safer: Infrastructure for the 21st Centry' highlighed national and local plans that emphasized public-private partnerships. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The mayor of Denver has been forced to apologise after his son used a homophobic slur against a traffic cop who had pulled him over for speeding.

Michael Hancock’s 22-year-old son, Jordan, threatened to get the police officer fired after he was stopped for driving 65mph in a 40mph zone.

Footage of the incident was captured by the cop’s body-worn camera and leaked to the Denver7 news channel.

In it he says: “My dad’s the mayor you f**king faggot,” before adding: “Don’t worry about it bitch, well guess what I’m about to get you fired f**king bitch.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XD_XW6FCJg?rel=0]

Hancock, a Democrat who became mayor of the US city in 2011, used a tweet to apologise for his son’s actions.

He said: “We’ve addressed our son’s behavior at a traffic stop [with] him. He’s apologized to the officer. While we don’t support nor condone his inexcusable actions & words, we love our son dearly & will work [with] him to turn a personal mistake into a valuable lesson for himself & the community.”

Later, in a television interview, he added: “The last thing we want is young men interacting with our police officers in that manner, particularly African-American young men.

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“And so he recognises that and he certainly understands that the officer didn’t deserve the interaction that he had.

“So he’s written an apology to the officer and he hopes that one day he gets a chance to personally apologise.”

Jordan Hancock paid a $250 (£180) fine over the incident, which happened in Aurora, a neighbouring city of Denver which falls outside the mayor’s control.

The Aurora police department has launched an investigation into how the footage was leaked to the press.

In a statement, police chief Nicholas Metz said: “In this matter, a portion of the video was improperly copied and disclosed.

We’ve addressed our son’s behavior at a traffic stop w/him. He’s apologized to the officer. While we don’t support nor condone his inexcusable actions & words, we love our son dearly & will work w/him to turn a personal mistake into a valuable lesson for himself & the community. — Michael B. Hancock (@MayorHancock) May 8, 2018

“It remains of great concern to the department that the video was released without departmental authorisation.

“It is not appropriate for any officer to disclose evidence, video or otherwise, publicly when a matter is pending prosecution. This is true for traffic cases as it is for homicide cases.”

Related link: England rugby star Denny Solomona handed four-week ban over homophobic slur

He added: “After taking into account the circumstances of this matter, including the fact that there is a pending internal affairs investigation related to this video, the department has determined that disclosure of the entire video would not be appropriate at this time.

“The department has not discussed and was not in any way influenced by the mayor of Denver or any Denver official in making this determination.”