Numbers still well short of national targets
21 November 2008
More needs to be done to promote the recruitment, retention and progression of ethnic minority police officers, according to a study.
The assessment, by policing minister Vernon Coaker, responds to a Home Office study that found that while ethnic minority representation in the police force has doubled over the past 10 years, numbers are still well short of national targets.
In the ninth year of the decade-long target period, ethnic minorities represent 5.6 per cent of all personnel – considerably short of the 2009 target of 7 per cent. Retention rates among ethnic minority officers are also lower than for white officers.
Publishing the assessment, which contains new initiatives to tackle the issue, Coaker said: “A representative police service will better understand and serve its local community and that is what I want us to work together to achieve.”
A new ministerial steering group will be set up to implement the recommendations made in the assessment. These include developing local recruitment, retention and progression plans, setting new local targets and improving exit interview data to help understand the reasons why ethnic minority officers leave the force.
The National Police Improvement Agency will also develop new guidance on “positive action good practice” and launch targeted recruitment campaigns.
Stephen Otter, lead for race and diversity at the Association of Chief Police Officers, said that while the association was exploring ways to help achieve “proportionality” across the police service, much more needed to be done.
“Chief officers recognise the importance of diversity both to ensure the police service draws on the full pool of talent and to increase the confidence of all communities in the police,” he said.
Last month the Metropolitan Police’s record on diversity came under fire after the Black Police Association labelled the force racist and called for ethnic minority officers to boycott recruitment.