Scots Police lead UK forces in recruiting ethnic minorities

Police forces throughout the United Kingdom are still desperately trying to improve the public's perception of them in the wake of an enquiry that found they were riddled with what it referred to as "institutional racism" after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a young black man in London. In an effort to alleviate such accusations, they have been actively attempting to recruit members from ethnic minorities with varying degrees of success. One force that has been particularly proactive is that of Strathclyde in Scotland, where officers from non-British white backgrounds now make up almost 30% of the entire membership.

"Here at the Strathclyde Police, we realise that it is in both our own and the public's interests that we represent a cross-section of Scotland's vibrant, modern, multicultural society," says Chief Superintendent Bruce Robertson, "and as such we welcome applicants from any ethnic background." So successful has the policy been that Robertson's force now has black, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and - uniquely amongst British police forces - even Jedi officers, the latter being especially welcome after the 2001 Census revealed that 2.6% of Strathclyde's population are followers of the monastic, non-theistic religion that has its roots in the Old Republic.

"It hae been oor experience tha' Jedi make excellent polis officers," Robertson says. "They hae a long tradition of piss-kipping and battling against whit they call the Dark Side - which seems tae include criminals, holligans and the like. Basically, all we hae tae dae is persuade them tae wield a truncheon in place of a lightsabre, stick a helmet on their heads and they're ready tae gae. Historically, they have also adhered tae a strict hierarchical system of rank, which means they fit right in with oor ain system."

However, Jedi officers have not been accepted by all members of the public. Acid Rabbi spoke to one citizen who is not so keen. "Noo, I don't want tae come across as a racist," said the man, who wishes to remain anonymous, "and I hae naething against the Jedi personally - I mean, they seem tae be a law-abiding and peaceful bunch, and thanks tae them the cornershops are open till 11 of a nicht which can be very useful; but I dae think Scoatish police officers should be Scoatish, and should speak proper Scoats. A lot of people hae difficulty in understanding the Jedi's accents. We have one of them who patrols round my area and none of us can really follow whit he's saying, which was never a problem when we had PC McPatel before he got transferred tae Edinburgh."

"Good for Jedi is employment in police force," Constable Yoda, who has been a member of Strathclyde Police for two years, told Acid Rabbi. "Hard-working and honest are Jedi. No longer living a long time ago in far, far away galaxy, some of noble Jedi order have Glasgow as their home now chosen. Right it is that we take active part in organisation and protection of society."

Police "must wear badges" says Chief Constable

Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Julie Spence tackled public concerns over police tactics during the recent G20 protests in her latest podcast. Several people were injured in the protests and one man, Ian Tomlinson, died after being hit and pushed to the ground by an officer. The incident was filmed and clearly shows that he was not acting in an aggressive manner. Eye-witnesses have claimed that the officers had obscured their identification -to me, the video does not appear to confirm this, but the officer seen striking Mr. Tomlinson can clearly be seen to be masked.

"Your judgement of us, on the other hand, may be based on something as simple as appearance," says Mrs. Spence. "All of this counts - and is one reason, I suspect, that people seemed so concerned about officers failing to display their numbers at the G2o summit protests, and why our decision in Cambridgeshire to put full names on epaulettes seems generally welcome. It demonstrates, in my view, an openness and fairness in policing."

Well bugger me - a copper who talks sense!

Well, bugger me - a copper talking sense, that's something that you don't come across too often nowadays (if indeed you ever did). She's quite right, too - the police force's reputation has taken almost as much of a hammering as poor old Mr. Tomlinson in recent years, what with the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry's findings and Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazilian shot seven times by officers using hollow-point dum-dum bullets (which are designed to incapacitate a target with a single successful hit) on the London Underground. Many people now fear the police and are hostile to them, which is bad news for all of us - fear is not the same thing as respect; and the police desperately need to regain our respect.

To do that, they must be 100% open in everything they do, they must be entirely honest and each and every officer must be accountable for his or her actions. A police officer who obscures his or her identity, unless doing so is part of an activity that requires it such as an undercover investigation into drug dealing, has something to hide. Something for which he or she does not want to blamed - in other words, something that he or she should not be doing and which is in all likelihood illegal. Why have they been allowed to get away with doing this? Why are they allowed to get away with wearing masks?

Famously, when the police break the law, there is no law. That's a quote that can be read in two ways - it can mean that when an officer breaks the law, prosecution will not result; but it can also be taken to mean that when an officer breaks the law, law and order begins to break down. The police must not be allowed to act in this way. If the uniforms need to be redesigned to prevent identification from slipping off (see that last link) then so be it - the cost is unimportant, it is a necessity that all officers can be accurately identified by any member of the public.