THE Chief Constable of North Yorkshire has spoken out following calls for positive discrimination to boost the number of black and Asian police officers.

As reported in The Press, Commander Ali Dizaei, of the Metropolitan Police Force, speaking at the Black Police Association’s national conference in York, called for positive discrimination in favour of ethnic minorities. He said such a move would help to combat terrorism.

But Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell, the head of the North Yorkshire force, said that although there were plus points to positive discrimination, it could also be divisive.

He said positive discrimination had been talked about in the UK for a long time and had been tried by police forces in America with both positive and negative consequences.

Mr Maxwell said: “You’re not seen as an equal opportunities organisation and it does create disharmony among colleagues.

“There can be a feeling that someone from a particular background has got the job instead of someone from a white background because of their skin colour.”

But on the plus side, Mr Maxwell said it could help to break perceived glass ceilings and could make it easier for the police nationally to represent the communities that they serve.

North Yorkshire Police has only 12 or so officers of a non-white ethnicity.

In the circumstances, some people could ask whether it was necessary to artificially swell the county’s police force with officers from ethnic minorities, given that the population it serves is one of the least multi-racial in the country.

Mr Maxwell said: “I think the police service should reflect the community it polices and what we will have across the UK in the next 20 years is an increase in immigration of about 15 per cent.”

But far more important to Mr Maxwell was the calibre of the applicant. He said: “The vast majority of (North Yorkshire’s) population is white but we do have a minority population as well of around three per cent.

“What we’re doing is trying to encourage the right people of any background to join the police.

“We want the right people with the right skills at the right time.

“I don’t think we need positive discrimination in terms of that.

“I think we are an attractive employer and we need the right people to come here.”

Speaking at the conference, Cdr Dizaei said: “I’m not ashamed in saying that we need positive discrimination, simply because of the threats we face in terms of becoming radicalised.

“We need people in order to immerse them in the communities to give us the intelligence to deal with that.”

Officers on the march

MEMBERS of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) marched through York following the end of their conference.

Around 250 officers representing 43 police forces marched in their uniforms from the Minster and around the city centre before finishing at Museum Gardens.

The NBPA’s conference and annual general meeting, which had the theme of fairness across all aspects of the criminal justice system, finished yesterday.

The annual conference used to be held in London but now moves around the country each year and York was picked because of the facilities available.