Police Positive Discrimination

The police federation have thrown their positive discrimination hat into the ring.

Equal Opportunities Meeting Statement

Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales:

“The service has been working hard to recruit more minority ethnic officers in a bid to ensure the racial make-up of communities is reflected by those policing them.

“Steady progress is being made but there needs to be a serious debate about the ethics of positive discrimination which, in our view, could be counter-productive. All officers, including talented black officers, may feel isolated and consider their efforts and promotion undermined should newer colleagues be leap-frogged into the service through preferential treatment and recruitment.

The Police Federation is organising an equal opportunity meeting on 30th May with all interested parties with the aim of defining where the dividing line lies between positive discrimination and the promotion of equal opportunity for minority groups”

For further reports see Positive Discrimination and Police Recruitment.