Priti: We need more ethnic minority and female police
PRITI Patel declared Britain needs more women and ethnic minority police officers – despite the numbers reaching record levels.
The Home Secretary yesterday said she wants forces to “become even more representative of the communities they serve”.
Officials told the Daily Express there are now 10,690 black, Asian and minority ethnic officers – the highest number since records began.
Nationally, around a third of officers are female, also the highest proportion on record. In total, 47,425 women are warranted police offices.
Campaign
The Home Secretary said: “Two years ago, this government made a promise to the British people to put 20,000 extra police officers on our streets. I am delighted that we are more than halfway towards delivering our goal.
“We want police forces to become even more representative of the communities they serve and the new phase of our advertising campaign aims to encourage yet more women and ethnic minorities to join the force.
“New recruits will join the additional 11,053 officers already on our streets, cutting crime and keeping our communities safe.”
In a speech at the recent National Black Police Association’s annual conference, Ms Patel warned police bosses “vary in how seriously they take this issue”, adding that this needs to change “immediately”. Ms Patel had previously admitted the recruitment of black police officers had been “stubbornly slow”. Yesterday, an advertising campaign was launched in a bid to improve the diversity of Britain’s police service. The adverts showcase real case studies from serving officers.
Ms Patel revealed that over the past year, eight forces – Derbyshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, Sussex, Thames Valley, Kent and Suffolk – have hired more women than men. Forces saw more females joining between July and September this year – accounting for 45 per cent of all recruits in that time. One new officer, PC Alysha Sarpong, of Kent Police, said: “The community is diverse. Obviously, the police want to represent the community. “In order to do so they need people from different backgrounds. The police force means family, it means community and it fills me with a sense of pride to be with such a positive force.”