Asian officer’s career path ‘was blocked’

A POLICE force with no black officers blocked an Asian constable’s promotion ambitions while “incompetent white officers” prospered, an employment tribunal has heard

Zaheer Ahmed, who worked for North Yorkshire Police for 23 years, claimed white officers were promoted to some more senior positions and the only explanation for him missing out was his race.

The tribunal at Teesside magistrates’ court has heard that Mr Ahmed, who is of Pakistani origin, had missed out on promotions to white colleagues and obstacles had been put in the way of his career progression.

In January 2014, Mr Ahmed applied for a custody sergeant role, but was told he was not suitable as he did not have enough experience. He claims other “less experienced, less qualified, white” colleagues were assisted in applying for the role.

In his witness statement, Mr Ahmed said: “North Yorkshire Police are concerned with appearing as though they care about tackling the issue of lack of diversity, but their actions do not support this. As of March 31, North Yorkshire Police did not have a single black officer on its force.”

Mr Ahmed said a further application for a promotion was rejected in 2016, due to concerns with his performance, which he said was “a shock and a blow”.

“I was getting good feedback from my superiors, was achieving competence and even exceeding expectations in some areas – I could not understand why it was only during the promotion process that I was being flagged as having development needs.”

The hearing continues.