The MetBPA welcomes the findings of the Employment Tribunal which found in favour of PC Carol Howard’s claims. This judgement highlights an ongoing concern from the MetBPA of the MPS being able to hold officers to account with regards to allegations of discrimination based on people’s race or gender.
Janet Hills the Chair of the MetBPA stated that “I’m shocked that in 2014 the MPS are still not able to hold officer’s to account for their perverse decisions based on race & sexual discrimination. The figures also show that as a Black or Asian officer you are more likely to face internal disciplinary regarding performance and alleged misconduct issues”.
Given that there has been a number of high profile cases over the years, the MPS have failed to elevate race as a strategic priority.
At a time when the MPS is still vigorously trying to recruit officers from the Black & Minority community, which the MetBPA strongly supports, it continues to fail when addressing the internal culture of the organisation. Mrs Hills stated, ‘Who will take on the learning from this case when we don’t even have a unit that deals with diversity? ’ ‘How will the organisation ensure that something like this will never happen again?’ Under the current restructuring of the MPS there is no longer a dedicated unit focused on diversity to ensure the embedding of race equality as part of the MPS values.
Mrs Hills stated, ‘The MetBPA are supportive of the Commissioner’s drive to rid the organisation of racism but more robust processes need to be put in place that will give Black officers & staff confidence in the system.
In October of this year, the MetBPA in partnership with the National Black Police Association will be hosting a national conference in London “Making the police service more representative of the communities it serves”. This conference will try to identify outcomes as to why BME candidates are not getting through the recruitment process and are not being progressed to the senior levels. Representatives from the Home Office, the police service within the UK and BME communities have been invited to attend.