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Britain needs more Muslim police officers. But some forces don't even know - or won't say - how many there are.
When the inquiry into the Metropolitan Police's handling of the investigation into Stephen Lawrence's murder reported in 1999, it rocked the force to the core. The Met was not just found to have been incompetent, but was guilty of institutional racism. In response, the then home secretary, Jack Straw, pledged to create a force which fully reflected the diversity of the communities it served, and increase ethnic minority recruiting and retention.
Nearly a decade later, where do we stand? Yesterday's Observer splashed with a report that chief constables were blocking an audit we undertook on the position of Muslim officers in the force.
We embarked on this survey because of continued concerns over the recruitment, retention and promotion – or lack thereof – of Muslim, ethnic minority and female officers. Despite Straw's pledge in 1999, not much has changed: just one of 43 chief constables is from an ethnic minority background, and only eight of the 300 members of the Association of Chief Police Officers are from an ethnic minority. Though the results of our survey are admittedly limited (just 20 of the 43 constabularies provided figures specifically on Muslim officers), four things stand out.
First is the basic issue of numbers: of a total of over 76,000 officers surveyed, there are only 430 male Muslim officers and 78 female Muslim officers (around 0.7%). Muslims account for 3% of the overall British population.
Secondly, there is a lack of data about representation in the force, and seemingly a lack of willingness to provide any. This doesn't make life any easier for anyone – especially those trying to make the force more representative.
Thirdly, Muslim officers are found mostly in the lower echelons of the force and are underrepresented in the higher: around 95% are either constables or sergeants, and just one Muslim serves at the rank of superintendent or above.
Finally, Muslim officers are almost entirely absent in counter-terrorism and other specialist branches, something that the Association of Chief Police Officers itself has been trying to encourage.
The overall picture is worrying. Diversity and representation in the force are not just token phrases, nor are they simply a matter of equality of opportunity for individual officers. There is an operational imperative: to be effective, the police must work in partnership with communities on a range of issues, from gun crime to terrorism, and it is therefore sensible for the police to be able to draw on the full range of officers' skills and attributes, be they cultural or religious, or linked to language or other practical skills.
Our survey does not allow us to provide definitive answers, but it does raise questions as to whether Muslim officers are being overlooked – and potentially discriminated against – for promotion or are failing to receive the necessary training and support.
It will be almost impossible to improve this situation without proper information on the position and role of Muslim officers across all 43 police forces. If we are serious about ensuring that Muslim officers are able to rise through the ranks at the same speed as everyone else, and ensuring that Muslims are deployed to counter-terrorism duties at a time of heightened national security, we need reliable data to track, progress and measure success. That is why we at Demos are urging the Home Office to support a commission to mark the tenth anniversary of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry to establish what progress has been made - and, of course, to see how much we still need to do.
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When the inquiry into the Metropolitan Police's handling of the investigation into Stephen Lawrence's murder reported in 1999, it rocked the force to the core. The Met was not just found to have been incompetent, but was guilty of institutional racism. In response, the then home secretary, Jack Straw, pledged to create a force which fully reflected the diversity of the communities it served, and increase ethnic minority recruiting and retention.
Nearly a decade later, where do we stand? Yesterday's Observer splashed with a report that chief constables were blocking an audit we undertook on the position of Muslim officers in the force.
We embarked on this survey because of continued concerns over the recruitment, retention and promotion – or lack thereof – of Muslim, ethnic minority and female officers. Despite Straw's pledge in 1999, not much has changed: just one of 43 chief constables is from an ethnic minority background, and only eight of the 300 members of the Association of Chief Police Officers are from an ethnic minority. Though the results of our survey are admittedly limited (just 20 of the 43 constabularies provided figures specifically on Muslim officers), four things stand out.
First is the basic issue of numbers: of a total of over 76,000 officers surveyed, there are only 430 male Muslim officers and 78 female Muslim officers (around 0.7%). Muslims account for 3% of the overall British population.
Secondly, there is a lack of data about representation in the force, and seemingly a lack of willingness to provide any. This doesn't make life any easier for anyone – especially those trying to make the force more representative.
Thirdly, Muslim officers are found mostly in the lower echelons of the force and are underrepresented in the higher: around 95% are either constables or sergeants, and just one Muslim serves at the rank of superintendent or above.
Finally, Muslim officers are almost entirely absent in counter-terrorism and other specialist branches, something that the Association of Chief Police Officers itself has been trying to encourage.
The overall picture is worrying. Diversity and representation in the force are not just token phrases, nor are they simply a matter of equality of opportunity for individual officers. There is an operational imperative: to be effective, the police must work in partnership with communities on a range of issues, from gun crime to terrorism, and it is therefore sensible for the police to be able to draw on the full range of officers' skills and attributes, be they cultural or religious, or linked to language or other practical skills.
Our survey does not allow us to provide definitive answers, but it does raise questions as to whether Muslim officers are being overlooked – and potentially discriminated against – for promotion or are failing to receive the necessary training and support.
It will be almost impossible to improve this situation without proper information on the position and role of Muslim officers across all 43 police forces. If we are serious about ensuring that Muslim officers are able to rise through the ranks at the same speed as everyone else, and ensuring that Muslims are deployed to counter-terrorism duties at a time of heightened national security, we need reliable data to track, progress and measure success. That is why we at Demos are urging the Home Office to support a commission to mark the tenth anniversary of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry to establish what progress has been made - and, of course, to see how much we still need to do.
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