Let's get it right: race and justice 2000 - Nacro

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Let’s get it rightPolice and prison servicesIn 1986, the Prison Department, as it then was, estimatedthat fewer than 1% of prison officers were from minoritygroups. In 1998, 2.73% of prison officers, 1.41% of seniorand principal officers and 0.48% of governor gradesdescribed their ethnicity as black, Asian or of anotherminority group. The retention rate for minority PrisonService staff was 85% compared to 91% for white staff.Progress here, then, has also been slow. There arecurrently two minority participants in the Prison Serviceaccelerated promotion scheme.With the advent of agency status for the Prison Service,staff recruitment became a local responsibility, instead ofa national function. Staff are recruited from localworkforces, which means that in areas with smallminority populations, such as rural parts of Wales, it isalmost impossible to recruit a diverse staff (relocationgrants which might have helped staff to move alsodisappeared during the 1990s). But rural prisons oftenhold high proportions of minority prisoners, moved out ofcities like London, Birmingham or Manchester to relieveovercrowding.Prior to the move to local recruitment, the Prison Servicehad been making great efforts to attract more black andAsian staff. These included a substantial programme ofpromoting the service in community organisations andlocal job centres, at careers fairs, colleges, schools andchurches, open days, and advertisements in minority pressand minority local radio stations. In its 1992 report, theNACRO Race Issues Advisory Committee noted progress:‘The response to these efforts has beenencouraging. There has been a considerableincrease in the number of applications to join thePrison Service from members of ethnic minorities.During 1990, 2,827 applications were receivedfrom ethnic minority candidates (7.4% of allapplications) compared with 738 applications in1989. Composition of courses [for new entrants]suggests that some 4% of new entrants will comefrom ethnic minorities.’Sadly, the demands made by an increased prisonpopulation and financial constraints, together with the endof national recruitment, meant this progress did notcontinue. From being a ‘market leader’ the Prison Servicehas in some ways gone backwards in recent years.New efforts are now under way to tackle this.The Prison Service has carried out its own review ofminority representation and identified a number of keyareas in which action needs to be taken. These are part ofthe RESPOND programme, racial equality for staff andprisoners (see also chapter 7):confronting racial harassment and discriminationensuring fairness in recruitment, appraisal, promotionand selectiondeveloping and supporting ethnic minority staffensuring equal opportunities for ethnic minorityprisonersrecruiting ethnic minority staff.A specialist race equality advisor is about to be appointed.A national outreach team is being re-established, whichwill promote development opportunities for minority staffand help to develop a national minority staff network.In 1990, 0.92% of police officers of all ranks were fromminorities. By 1998, this had increased to 2%, or 2,483 ofthe 124,798 police officers in England and Wales. There isone minority assistant chief constable and foursuperintendents.A 1995 report from HM Chief Inspector of Police,‘Developing Diversity in the Police Service’, makes thelinks between external perceptions of the police,particularly in terms of their work on community relations,and recruitment. It may prove impossible for police forcesto substantially increase current recruitment levels fromminority communities unless this is done in tandem withensuring demonstrably fair policing to a high standard tothose same communities. According to the report:‘Although in the majority of forces there is a verysmall but continuing rise in the recruitment ofwomen and ethnic minority officers, their progressup the promotion ladder or into departments andspecialisms is far slower. Alongside praiseworthyexamples of good practice, there is alsoscepticism, tokenism and indifference … There aremany individuals who see equal opportunities ascrucial to the development of a modern, efficientand diverse workforce for the next century, butentrenched attitudes continue to frustrate or dilutetheir best efforts.’The progress that has been made in attracting more22
RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 5 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAININGminority officers is also at risk from budget cuts. InOctober 1998, the Home Secretary, speaking at a BlackPolice Association Conference, announced targets for therecruitment, retention and promotion of black and Asianofficers. He said:‘It is not enough for forces to pay lip service tothe ethos of equal opportunities. It is vital that thepolice demonstrate minority ethnic officers areneeded in the police and that they can progressthrough the ranks on equal terms with colleagues.Black and Asian people need to believe that theyare needed and not there just to make up thenumbers.’Giving evidence in Bradford to one of the local hearingsof the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, an assistant chiefconstable from West Yorkshire Police reported the successof a year-long advertising campaign which had resulted in40% more inquiries from members of minoritycommunities. But he continued: ‘this year we haverecruited only 16 officers, one Asian, because ofeconomic constraints, and next year we are not expectingto take any new recruits’.In response to recommendations 64-68 in the StephenLawrence Inquiry Report, in April 1999 the HomeSecretary announced targets for recruitment and retentionof more black and Asian police officers. Over the next 10years each force will be expected to achieve a similarproportion of minority officers to that in their localpopulation.At the same time, a new Home Office report, ‘CareerProgression of Ethnic Minority Police Officers’, showedthat:Applications from members of minority communitiesto join the police were lower than expected.Minority applicants were less likely than whiteapplicants to be offered an interview, receive a formaloffer of employment and be appointed.Retention rates for minority officers had deteroriatedbut had improved slightly for white officers.Minority officers were twice as likely to resign aswhite officers and two to three times more likely to bedismissed.Minority officers took 12 months longer than whiteofficers to reach sergeant rank. Black officers took 23months and Asian officers 16 months longer thanwhite officers to reach inspector level.Announcing the targets at a conference of chief constablesin April 1999, the Home Secretary said:‘I’m not setting quotas and saying that you have totake somebody on because of the colour of theirskin. I’m setting targets that will enable the policeservice to more fairly represent the communitiesyou serve. I want the police service to become thechampions of a multi-cultural society not justbecause that is right in itself but because it willmake it a more effective police service.’The CPS and probation servicesProbation services have made much progress in attractinga diverse staff. From 2% in 1986, 8% of staff are nowfrom minority groups compared to 6% in the generalpopulation – but only four people are at assistant chiefprobation officer level. There are three times as manyblack staff as in the general population, but only half asmany Asian staff. In London, between a fifth and aquarter of probation staff are from minority groups.Similarly, the CPS – a brand new organisation in 1985 –in 1998 employed a workforce with 8.4% of its staff fromminority groups. 15.4% of new entrants in 1997/98 whodeclared their ethnic origin were from minority groups,but so too were 10.7% of those who left the organisationand who had previously declared their ethnic origin.The CPS programme of action on race (along with similarprogrammes on women and disability) sets out measuresto achieve equality of opportunity. There is an outreachprogramme to raise awareness of the CPS as employerand increase the number of applicants from minorities,particularly where they are under-represented in certaingrades compared to Census benchmarks. Under thenational mentoring scheme, about 30 CPS staff havementored 50 students. Through the Windsor Fellowship,the CPS sponsors two minority students for two yearsincluding a six weeks’ paid work placement.In those organisations such as the CPS and the probationservice which have successfully attracted a goodproportion of minority staff, it is now important to ensurefirstly that they stay, and secondly that equal opportunitiesexist for promotion to the most senior levels, usingpositive action initiatives as permitted by the RaceRelations Act 1976.23
Page 1 and 2: Let’sget itrightRace and Justice
Page 3 and 4: ContentsForeword page 21 A decade o
Page 5 and 6: RACE AND JUSTICE 2000trade unions,
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Page 11 and 12: CHAPTER2NACRO’s workon race andcr
Page 13 and 14: CHAPTER3Commitmentfrom the topOne o
Page 15 and 16: CHAPTER4Research andethnicmonitorin
Page 17 and 18: RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 4 RESE
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Page 61 and 62: CHAPTER10Summary ofaction pointsCRI
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Page 65 and 66: BIBLIOGRAPHYBland et al (1999), ‘
Page 67 and 68: NACRO Race Issues Advisory Committe

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