The Met has held talks with the government about changing the law to boost the number of ethnic minority applicants.Positive discrimination where a lesser qualified candidate is awarded the job because he / she is from a minority is currently illegal in mainland uk. sure this kind of thing just makes matters worse.whats wrong with just giving the job to the best qualified person.
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The job is open to anyone who wants to apply regardless of background and they all get tested the same way, so if they dont apply that would suggest they are not wanting a role with the police, if they fail then that means they are not good enough.
End off
My place done it and got caught and got into trouble, backfired as the role was aimed at females, they were not interested took the add to there husbands who applied instead fo them
http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2013-06-03/the-mets-response-to-consideration-of-positive-discrimination/
http://www.london24.com/news/crime/met_may_use_positive_discrimination_in_next_recruitment_drive_1_2220935
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22754227
And I don't think any of us want that do we?
Dont give a rats arse what skin pigment a coppers skin is as long as he/she responds when im in the shit and can actually do the job.
So if your in a "white area" do you only get "white" O Bill ????
I'm not sure if this is the answer to the problem, probably not, but clearly something needs to be done as London becomes a more diverse city.
It makes sense to both increase the amount of females and ethnic minorities into the police imo though, they can better connect in a short time with their own sex or race without being able to label the officer as discriminatory.
To just let that microcosym position 'evolve' will take too long - there needs to be some sort of catalyst. Or you could just take the view that it's OK for just 10% of cops to be from ethnic minorities - clearly the Met themselves don't agree with that view.
Ethnic group Population % of total
White British 50,366,497 85.67%
White (other) 3,096,169 5.27%
Indian 1,053,411 1.8%
Pakistani 977,285 1.6%
White Irish 691,232 1.2%
Mixed race 677,117 1.2%
Black Caribbean 565,876 1.0%
Black African 485,277 0.8%
Bangladeshi 283,063 0.5%
Other Asian (non-Chinese) 247,644 0.4%
Chinese 247,403 0.4%
Other 230,615 0.4%
Black (others) 97,585 0.2%
Obviously this vastly changes per location, cities in particular have very different demographics, according to the Office for National Statistics, based on the 2011 Census estimates, 59.8 per cent of the 8,173,941 inhabitants of London were White, with 44.9 per cent White British, 2.2 per cent White Irish, 0.1 per cent gypsy/Irish traveller and 12.1 per cent classified as Other White.
20.9 per cent of Londoners are of Asian and mixed-Asian descent. 19.7 per cent of Londoners are of full Asian descent, with those of mixed-Asian heritage comprising 1.2 of the population. Indians account for 6.6 per cent of the population, followed by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis at 2.7 per cent each. Chinese peoples account for 1.5 per cent of the population, with Arabs comprising 1.3 per cent. A further 4.9 per cent of Londoners are classified as "Other Asian".
15.6 per cent of London's population are of Black and mixed-Black descent. 13.3 per cent of Londoners are of full Black descent, with those of mixed-Black heritage comprising 2.3 per cent of the population. Black Africans account for 7.0 per cent of London's population, with 4.2 per cent as Black Caribbean and 2.1 per cent as "Other Black".
5.0 per cent of Londoners are of mixed race.
You can see from the above where the 40% figure comes from with 59.8% being white, meaning all various minorities total 40.2%.
In an ideal world, with no discrimination, surely the demographic make-up of the police would broadly reflect that of the general population, as would the demographic make-up of those who apply to join, and the demographic make-up of those recruited.
The BBC story says that currently 17% of new recruits come from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared with much higher ethnic minority figures in the population at large. Surely the Met should be looking at the existing reasons for this, before advocating so-called 'positive' discrimination. (Incidentally this is a term which I hate - as randy andy said there is no such thing as 'positive' discrimination).
There can only be two possible reasons for this:
1. The demographics of applicants reflect the general population, but for some reason those from certain ethnic groups are less likely to be selected. This suggests some sort of bias within the selection process, which needs to be looked at by the Met.
2. The demographics of applicants does NOT reflect the general population, suggesting that certain ethnic groups are less likely to apply to join the Met than others. Again, I would suggest that the Met should be looking into the reasons for this.
Either way, I think the problem lies closer to home. Positive discrimination is not the answer - this will just breed resentment both within and outside the police.
Years ago in Florida it was tried with one city's fire fighters. One 'caucasian' applicant insisted that he was of African extraction. 'No you're not' said the authorities, 'prove it' said the applicant. The case went high up the US/State appeals and legal procedures, eventually the attempt at positive discrimination was thrown out by the judges.
There is no known test to genetically prove 100% what is an individual's racial make up. You can get close but never 100%. if I had one African ancestor 1000 years ago, would that qualify me as a minority ?, would that genetic inheritance show up in a test ?
The tests and legislation would have to get very close to apartheid South African theory to have any affect.
In several US states, native Americans are allowed to open gambling establishments in reservation areas whereas gambling is illegal in the rest of the state.
You would not believe the number of entrepreneurs who suddenly discovered a Pawnee, Apache or Navajo ancestor way, way, way back when.
Put it another way - someone in the Met clearly has a target to increase the level of ethnic minorities within the force. It appears that they are failing to do this by playing fairly (possibly for the reason you have suggested), so effectively want to cheat by weighting the selection process.