Highly capable candidates from minority backgrounds are being rejected because of rigid standards, claim officers Concern is growing that the English language test threshold to enter the police is set too high and applications from worthy candidates from minority groups are being binned as a result. Both frontline officers and professionals at the College of Policing have voiced fears that groups that are already under-represented in the service are failing the language test – even though they are able to read and write to an acceptable standard. Now they have called for the recruitment process to be re-examined to ensure that applicants from minority groups have a chance of success.while maintaining high standards. Concerns about the issue were raised at the recent Special Constabulary 2014 conference, where an initiative by Durham officers to engage with the Polish community was shown to be an example of good practice. The initiative saw bilingual Special Constable Daniel Kempf – a recruit from the eastern European country – take a lead in establishing and gaining the confidence of his fellow nationals. He assisted in the creation of several initiatives in Darlington, including a successful police engagement group and social activities. His work saw crimes that would otherwise have remained hidden exposed and prosecuted. However, Durham Neighbourhood Sergeant Daryl Edmunds said that SC Kempf had been recruited under old standards and would not have passed had he entered the selection process now. Despite demonstrating that he was highly capable of giving evidence in court and dealing with statements, his recent application to become a PSCO had been rejected because of his English standards. Sgt Edmunds told PoliceOracle: “This issue around selection is my biggest bugbear. “SC Kempf had applied to be a PCSO, and did not get selected even though he is already a fully-warranted officer with the appropriate powers – he writes statements. “The decision not to select him does not make sense – in my view we need to take a step back from processes, look at people and examine the potential for a holistic way of testing them.” Everett Henry (pictured), Head of Equality, Diversity and Human Rights at the College of Policing, said that he was concerned, particularly as diversity in the service needs to be addressed. He said the College was currently involved in a programme to identify representation issues, and would soon be in the process of surveying black and minority ethnic officers. Mr Henry believed that “a lot of very good people” were being lost during selection. He added: “The fact is that there are a lot of hidden crimes that people do not report because we are not engaging effectively. We need to harness people with inside knowledge. “We need to be thinking differently about some of our processes – there must be support.”
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 15:15:33 +0000
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