Discrimination in police


UNISON’s police and justice service group conference held earlier this month opened with a vow to tackle employment discrimination.


Delegates at the conference heard that a white applicant has a better chance of getting a job than a black applicant in more than two-thirds of UK forces.


Kitty Smith from the national black members’ committee pointed out that no police force reflects its local population, and called for “greater scrutiny for police chiefs failing to ensure their force reflects the community they serve”.


While evidence shows that representative workforces that can relate to diverse communities deliver better services, the number of black PCSOs has been steadily decreasing.


The service group executive has been instructed to undertake a mapping exercise to identify the representation of black workers in employment and in senior positions among employers in the service group. It will survey black members in police and probation to get information on their experiences in the workplace.


https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2016/10/black-worker-representation-in-the-police-and-justice-sector-going-in-the-wrong-direction/