WALES STILL NEEDS MORE BME POLICE OFFICERS TO JOIN RANKS
Hopes recruitment will see more wanting to join forces
PEOPLE from black and ethnic minorities are seriously under-represented in Welsh police forces, new figures show.
According to statistics released this week, there are only 123 BME officers in the whole of Wales. Of these, just 28 are women.
Overall, only four men and two women are above the rank of sergeant.
So why are the police struggling to recruit BME officers?
We spoke to PC Bharat Narbad, 50, from South Wales Police to try to understand why there is such a lack of representation in the force.
PC Narbad has been the chair of the South Wales Black Police Association for 10 years and has been part of the force for almost 20 years.
He said: “I was born in north west India and I was one and a half when I came to this country.
“Policing is something that I have always wanted to do.
“When I left school I looked into joining the police but I couldn’t get in because they had a height restriction in 1987.
“So I left school and went to work for Barclays Bank. I would spend all day just counting other people’s money.
“After 11 years I found out the height restriction had gone so I joined up.
“When I started I did not see many black officers. Out of my intake of 20, it was just me.”
According to PC Narbad, the issue of BME recruitment relates to both perception and culture.
“There are a couple of issues,” he said.
“One of the main ones is the perception. The Stephen Lawrence anniversary raises the issue every year quite rightly. When people hear reports like that, they do think that all police officers are racist.
“Stop and search figures don’t help as well.
“When I first signed up, I was called a ‘traitor to my community’.
“Another issue is cultural. Coming from an Asian background, both my brothers went to university.
“It comes from your parents and their perceptions. I have seen the way police operate in India – it is corrupt. It is a low-paid job in that country and not seen as a profession.
“A bit of knowledge is a bad thing. My brother tried to discourage me when I went to sign up but I am the sort of person who won’t be put off once I have decided to do something.”
However, throughout his career he has seen a lot of improvements in how the police operate. According to PC Narbad, the police tend to mirror society generally.
He said: “I have noticed a difference over the last 20 years.
“At the time of the Stephen Lawrence [investigation] it was like a pendulum and people became far more careful. I remember I had to go to a diversity course and the tone of it was very much ‘you are all racist’.
“The training meant there was less overt racism but it became more subtle.
“The police are a reflection of society in that it only takes one terrorist attack for it to change.
“The police are just made up of people in society. Back in the 1970s, for example, when there was a surge in the National Front, that reflected itself in the police forces.
“There was an attitude of us and them; however, now times have changed. We still have a way to go but we are getting there.”
Part of PC Narbad’s role is to help bring BME people into the force.
He said: “Going back to formation of the police in the 1820s you want to reflect your community. If you have a 20% community looking a certain way you want 20% of your police force like that.
“When you have BME officers and you put them into the communities where they are from you get a positive reaction and it helps to build relationships.
“I do a lot of myth busting. Things like people being given time to pray and Sikhs being able to wear the blue turban.
“Now you have to have a degree to join the police so you are able to say to people that it is a professional career.
“I am hoping it will be like a domino effect and once we have more