Theresa May: ‘Police forces must be diverse’

The longest serving Home Secretary in recent years, Theresa May, is making it her mission to change the relationship between the police and Black and minority ethnic communities.

Yesterday, in an uncompromising speech about the lack of diversity within police forces in England and Wales, May stated the present situation is simply just not good enough. ‘The public,’ in particular, BME communities, ‘will not have the confidence in policing unless there are more BME police officers’. May cited four police forces where they didn’t have a single Black officer, they included Cheshire, Durham, Dyfed-Powys and North Yorkshire.

Former Chair and founder of the Black Police Association Leroy Logan, agreed with May, but added as the Home Secretary, ‘it is her responsibility to drive through these changes.’

Logan also said 'it’s not just about recruitment, Black police officers are much more likely to be investigated internally, and leave at a much higher rate too.'

‘These recruitment, retention and progression issues will not be addressed until there are robust and sustainable diversity performance indicators put in place by the home secretary, in accordance with the principles set out by Sir Robert Peel, founder of the first police force.’

One of the many challenges the police have always had stems from the ‘chicken and egg’ , ‘why would a black person join, what is seen as a racist police force?’

Truth is one cannot effectively change without the other. Yes let’s have a BME recruitment drive particularly at the senior level, but there has to be a plan to ensure that when BME recruits enter the force their lives are not made a misery by a culture that views them inferior, and or with those old derogatory insults.

The Home Secretary’s full speech

Simon Woolley