Not enough black police officers

22 Oct 2015. The police in England and Wales do not represent the communities they serve and must increase ethnic diversity, the home secretary Theresa May has said. The proportion of black and Asian officers is "simply not good enough", but critics say it is hard to recruit BME officers while funds are being cut.

Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said it was difficult for forces to recruit officers from ethnic minorities while chief constables were having to make savings.

Jack Dromey, Labour's shadow police minister, said some forces will not be able to recruit until 2019 "at the earliest" due to cuts.

Theresa May also challenged police over the number of female officers, who currently make up 28% of the police workforce - despite representing 51% of the population.


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