Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

THE CASE FOR CHANGE
5.68 We appreciate that often this failure results from managers’ fear of being
accused of racism. That is why we are recommending that the organisation needs
to become more confident in managing a diverse workforce.
5.69 We agree with Lord Harris when he said in his evidence to us: “You must always be able
to demonstrate that management is acting in a way which is fair and reasonable, but you must
at the same time manage issues rather than simply falling back to very bureaucratic processes
and procedures, which inevitably have the effect of spinning things out for a very long period.”
We recommend that the MPS takes immediate action to engage black,
minority ethnic and white officers and staff at all levels in the important
practical steps required to ensure that black and minority ethnic officers and
staff are not discriminated against on grounds of race.
Disproportionality in complaints and discipline
5.70 The statistics show disproportionality in the number of internal conduct
investigations brought in respect of officers from minority ethnic backgrounds as
opposed to those who are white:
“At the very heart of the representations made over the years by the Met BPA has been the
belief that a disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic personnel have been
subject to investigation by the Department of Professional Standards (DPS) and, once that
investigative process had been commenced, that the DPS would pursue black and ethnic
minority staff by means of an excessive and disproportionate use of resources within an over
rigorous and highly subjective processes of investigation.” (Submission from the MBPA.)
5.71 In addition, the MBPA refers extensively in its submission to a statistical review
carried out by the Internal Consultancy Group (ICG), Statistical Analysis of
Complaints in Relation to Ethnicity (November 2003). This review was instigated by
DPS and concluded that:
● a higher number of complaints were recorded against black officers than
would be expected if the numbers were the result of chance;
● a higher number of internal investigations were recorded of black and Asian
officers than would be expected if the numbers were a result of chance; and
● a higher number of written warnings recorded were for black, Asian and
other ethnic officers than would be expected if the numbers were a result of
chance.
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