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One in 10 Met constables from ethnic minority
Ellen Widdup and Justin Davenport25 Jun 2009
The 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.”
Reader views (10)
Why does the police service have to match the ethnic make up of the city/nathion??? Why should the police reflect the community? Should i, as a white hetrosexual protestant tax payer, refuse to be dealt with by a police constable who does not match my ethnic requirements? Conversely, should white officers in ethnic centres, decline to deal with calls from ethnic victims and should the police only send the appropriate officer to calls? Is this big push saying that white people are incapable of helping non-whites?
Why not just have the best person for the job go to it, regardless of background, otherwise what's the point?
- Tom, london, 25/06/2009 22:41
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Paul, London appears to be having fun with stats.
There are only 4.1% of BME officers in the whole police service (a lot less than 10%) This figure grew nationally by 0.2% in 12 months.
The Met has a lot less than 10% even though even though 32% of Londoners are from minority communities. It is sad that this interpreted that somehow the people recruited are not up to standard. This is not true as all applicants have to reach the same national standard.
The Met and the police service have a long way to go for a truly representative police service. At least look at the facts first not assume that the numbers in Lnodon are the same nationally.
- Lm Hallam, London, 25/06/2009 17:24
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Only 10%? Yet the BAME pop of London is more than that.great that prop of Officers increasing but more needs to be done. Mayor Johnsons call for an amnesty was also welcome. Why waste valuble resources on weeding out the illegals. Declare the amnesty then tax them.
- Dhan Raj, basildon, 25/06/2009 15:51
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All this PC stuff really sickens me why cant the best man/woman for the job be employed reguardless of ethnicity, then if during the recruitment process there is deemed to be an unfair selection due to race then this can be taken up by a seperate board to assertain why that candidate didn't get the job.
This country has gone too PC mad !!!
- G, London England, 25/06/2009 14:20
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Paul, have you read the article?
"Census estimates suggest 32.5 per cent of Londoners were from a minority group in 2006"
So you needn't worry yourself about over-representation
- Nick, London, 25/06/2009 12:34
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The "significant progress" has been as the Met's recruitment policy has discriminated against white candidates in recent years!
- Mark, South-East London, 25/06/2009 11:52
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I believe there was shortage of positions available for Catholics to join the Police service of Northern Ireland some years ago.They needed more Catholic's to join, so that the make up of the service was more representative of the Community.
They solved the problem by offering early retirement to serving officers.The shortage of posts was solved almost overnight.Catholics applied for vacancies in greater numbers than was previously seen.
Londons services need to represent the community it serves NOW,not in 10-15 years time.
Lets see some decisive action soon.
This is something the Mayor of London could make a real difference to,is there someone in the Police,Boris Johnson could have a quiet word with?
- Mo Ali, Harrow,England, 25/06/2009 11:14
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Ethnic minorities account for roughly a little fewer than 10% of the UK population. But that does not mean it would work out mathematically that one in ten would be officers. You have to take into account many factors including the amount of people applying, necessary qualifications and eligibility. So the figure should be be a lot lower than the current 10%. This means we are giving positions to ethnic minorities over better qualified more suitable non-minorities. This in turn lowers the standards. We should surely not be compromising public safety just to appear politically correct.
- Paul, London, 25/06/2009 11:14
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It's not about quota's it's about promoting the people who are up to the job. Well I hope so for the safety of Londoners anyway!
- Mark, London, 25/06/2009 10:36
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Shame they don't catch too many criminals.
- Steveo, Islington, London, 25/06/2009 10:14
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