Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

THE CASE FOR CHANGE
lot of people would prefer to go through the similar process, the same as everybody else,
because anything that is different, you sort of stand out a lot more, basically.”
(Speaker at the Inquiry’s Women’s Forum.)
9.39 There was also concern that officers recruited to more senior roles might not
be ‘up to the job’ nor command the respect of the officers they had to manage.
“And no matter what anybody says, it is not like managing an office in an office block, a 9-5 job
behind a computer; you are dealing with people, but it is not the same, and to me, … you are
trying to ask somebody to respect you when you physically do not know how to do the job
yourself.” (Speaker at the Inquiry’s Women’s Forum.)
“If that were introduced, and it was for – say it was introduced only for women, I think that
would just make the whole matter a lot lot worse, personally. Yes, it should be considered and
examined maybe, but my feelings are that if I, for example, joined straight in as an inspector, I
would have absolutely no credibility whatsoever.” (Evidence of Ms LL.)
9.40 Many of the concerns we heard were from women. We have received
evidence that these concerns are shared by people from ethnic minority
communities.
“There was a strong view that it was more important for the police to recruit people with
the right personalities and attitudes, regardless of their ethnic background. Respondents were
also keen that people like themselves should be seen to be recruited on merit rather than
reasons of positive discrimination.”
(Extract from Attitudes of People from Minority Ethnic Communities towards a Career in
the Police Service: Home Office Report by Stone & Tuffin.)
9.41 A multi-point entry scheme would not, of course, apply exclusively to women
and ethnic minority applicants. The principal reason for such a scheme would be to
attract individuals with particular skills and mature experience, developed in other
fields.
9.42 This injection of new ideas and ways of working from people with a track
record of success in a different field would clearly impact on the culture of the
service. If it were also to assist in addressing issues of representation at senior level,
that would be welcome added value.
9.43 HMIC has raised the question of whether the single entry route to the service
is still appropriate: “As concepts such as ‘streaming’ and specialisation take root, there should
be significantly greater opportunity to identify individuals with the requisite combinations of
skills elsewhere than solely from within the service.” (Modernising the Police Service, HMIC.)
9.44 HMIC considers that “the future will demand that direct recruitment is considered
beyond the police staff roles to encompass many of the operational specialisms and
managerial roles, including BCU commander and chief constable.”
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