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One in 10 Met constables is now from ethnic minority
25 Jun 2009The number of ethnic minority officers in the Metropolitan police is poised to break 3,000 for the first time.
Scotland Yard chiefs said today that “significant progress” was being made. One in 11 officers in London is now from an ethnic minority. At constable rank, the figure is one in 10.
Seven years ago, only one in 33 Met officers was from an ethnic minority. But there is fresh concern over the Met's failure to promote black and Asian staff to senior roles. Figures obtained by the Evening Standard show that:
Out of the 314 officers above the rank of chief inspector, only 11 are from ethnic minorities.
Only two — both Asian — are members of the elite Association of Chief Police Officers.
Of 75 chief superintendents, 73 are white. Just one — Sultan Taylor — is Asian. The 75th refused to give his ethnicity.
The two highest-ranked officers are Shabir Hussain, temporary Deputy Assistant Commissioner, and Commander Ali Dizaei.
Recently, Mr Hussain lost a race tribunal case against the force, and Mr Dizaei is awaiting trial on a misconduct charge. The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, come 10 years after the Met was accused of institutional racism by the Macpherson inquiry following Stephen Lawrence's murder.
Next month Mayor Boris Johnson's Race and Faith inquiry is due to publish its findings. It was launched last year after the Yard was hit by a series of race rows, including allegations that a “golden circle” of white officers was preventing promotion of minorities.
The figures show the state of the force in March this year. Out of 32,543 officers at all levels, 1,109 were Asian, 841 black, and 556 mixed race.
A further 359 stated “ethnic minority” but did not give their background. Together these four groups totalled 2,865 officers.
Scotland Yard said the most up-to-date figures showed the Met was on the verge of passing the 3,000 barrier.
At the time of the Macpherson Report, police forces were told to try to recruit as many ethnic minority officers as would reflect the communities they served. In London, the Met faced a 25 per cent target. One insider said: “We would have had to sack half the force and start again.” The benchmark was later dropped as “unrealistic”.
Census estimates suggest 32.5 per cent of Londoners were from a minority group in 2006. By 2026 this is estimated to rise to 39.1 per cent.
Today, Martin Tiplady, the Met's head of human resources, insisted it was “working hard” to fast-track talented black and Asian officers.
He said: “We are trying to speed up the process of promotion but we are suffering because seven years ago just three per cent of our cops were from an ethnic minority, and it takes time to get to senior ranks. There has to be a period of experience-gathering. So we are playing catch-up, but our recruitment levels of ethnic minority officers are high and there is real evidence these officers are coming through the ranks to the posts of sergeant and inspector.”
He said two Asian officers had been promoted to the rank of chief superintendent in the last few weeks.
However, Alfred John, chairman of the Metropolitan Black Police Association, called the improvements “window dressing”.
He said: “Last year there were no promotions of visible ethnic minority officers from the inspector rank to chief inspector rank; this year there have been just two.”
