Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation

THE POLICE REFORM PROGRAMME
The need
for diversity
Is a representative workforce
really important? Julie Spence
examines the issue
Julie Spence is former Chief
Constable of Cambridgeshire
and President of the British
Association of Women in
Policing
To have legitimacy a professional
police service needs to be
representative of the society
it serves; and there is no doubt that
decision making and service provision
benefits from the range of views that a
broad spectrum of backgrounds brings.
Indeed, it is perverse to think that
one group in society has all the requisite
capabilities and should dominate; sobering
cross-cultural lessons can be learned from
reflecting on the justifications given, the
impact and results of apartheid regimes.
It is not about political correctness, the
well-known foil to endeavours to change
the status quo, but it is about professional
common sense and treating people fairly.
The recent rapid inward migration of
citizens from the expanded European
Union showed that a lack of language
skills and cultural awareness severely
hampered operational policing and its
ability to deal expeditiously with victims,
offenders and the new public.
Austerity, 20 per cent budget cuts, the
consequent loss of funding for diversity
support groups, the introduction of
police and crime commissioners, the loss
of the National Policing Improvement
Agency and ministerial meetings focused
on equality are all likely to have a, yet to
be quantified, impact.
There is evidence that early signs
of regression are not being recognised
or seen as strategically significant
the service’s focus must be broadened
from one of solely cost-cutting to
include planning for the predictable
consequences of it.
The diversity agenda
The current diversity agenda requires
consideration of both new and enduring
challenges.
The new context demands an indepth
understanding of the impact and
consequences of:
austerity and the strategies to counter
it; for example the recent HMIC report
Policing Austerity – one year on (2012 1 ) focused
on the total data picture without further
analysis but officer and police staff losses
need to be examined for their impact on
workforce diversity
the removal of supervisors and senior
ranks to save costs while retaining the
front line this will ensure reduced
promotion opportunities and remove
key guardians of fair treatment and
standards;
the recruitment and pay progression
freee – already worrying statistics
are emerging, ie, between 2010 and
2011, 165 ethnic minority officers were
recruited while 204 left. (Urry 2012 2 ).
The national aspiration has been to
develop a workforce with per cent
black and ethnic minorities and 35 per
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