Einstein : Not everything that can be counted counts. And not everything that counts can be counted.

Tuesday 26 June 2007

Under Pressure

The Police Service is under pressure to meet a Home Office target of 7% of officers coming from non-white backgrounds by 2009. Police chiefs have admitted they face a massive task convincing officers of the merits of plans to push job applications from white males to the bottom of the pile.



The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) had called for a change in the law so that "priority could be given to minority ethnic and female applicants"."Acpo is hoping to educate people within the force, because there is a defensiveness there which comes from not understanding what [affirmative action] is all about,"



The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, slammed the proposal, saying it went beyond positive action. They said: "These new proposals could be counter-productive. All officers, including black and female officers, want to be recognised for their skills and abilities rather than receiving preferential treatment."



108 applicants were told they had been "randomly de-selected" from the recruitment process by one Force. It later emerged that nearly two-thirds of white men who applied to join the constabulary in the latest recruitment drive were turned down, whereas every ethnic minority candidate was invited for an assessment. The Force said it was obliged by law to bring the ethnic breakdown of its officers into line with that of the community it serves.



Another Force has admitted that his force used "inappropriate" recruitment techniques when excluding white applicants. They admitted that a recruitment scheme which relied on positive discrimination to increase the proportion of women and ethnic minorities in the force was "not appropriate". A man rejected by this Force because he was white has won an undisclosed sum in compensation in an out-of-court settlement. It could mean a massive payout if the other 185 applicants decide to follow suit. It faces a bill of up to £4m if all those rejected on racial grounds come forward. Let's see, what could we get with 4 million?



So remember, if ever you face discipline on the alleged grounds of racism, that phrase positive discrimination. If itis good enough for a Chief Constable not to lose his job, it may be good enough for you. It is racism, after all. But then again, perhaps not.

8 comments:

Metcountymounty said...

It would appear mate that you have also been cloned, hopefully Darwinism will soon takes itscourse and they'll move on 'to a better place'

metcountymounty said...

I'm quite lovely, all tall, well built and ruggedly handsome - and charming to boot!!

So, please boot me!!!

Annette said...

I do not believe that anyone should be picked for any vacancy because they are man, woman, black or white.
That is irrelivant.
What matters most is whether that person is capable of doing that particular job.
If they have the capability of doing it then the sex, or race of that person, does not come into it.
They got that position because they are the right one for it, not because of their sex or colour.

Whichendbites said...

I totally agree Annette. Trouble is that itis only an ideaology in words which are driven by a political motive to appease and create a false illusion of what is being done. OK for the chosen few but totally unacceptable for the majority.

Whichendbites said...

Thanks for the word M.C.M. Sad when this sort of things happens but an inevitable occurrence when the police blogs are so popular and well read. Only a matter of time before the opposition creep in to have their sport. Freedom of spech, teeth marks, and all that sort of stuff. This appears to be one government target that is working, more people know how to use a keyboard, almost properly.

Twining says: said...

Which end bites, I agree. The ideology is totally false. Just look at the people they are moving forwards and their quality. These people are in it for themselves. This will damage relation's between people and ACPO really don't seem to care.

On another note there are benefits to wordpress. They have spellcheck, it is more pleasing on the eye. Stats are easier. I haven't got used to wordpress yet, but I emailed Southwest about it. It is so easy. If I fnd your email, either I or Southwest will email you instructions. It's done in 5 minutes or so, if you transfer.

Anonymous said...

Not sure what to think, really. Frankly, it's rather depressing to think that so few few black and Asian people are applying that someone thinks we need to do this.

Anonymous said...

I do not think that anyone cares what colour/religion a Police Officer is as long as one turns up when they want one....there should only be one criteria and that is can he/she do the job well