Met Police aim for diversity in drive to hire 5,000 constables by 2016
The Metropolitan Police has announced it is relaxing strict recruitment rules to allow people with minor convictions to apply to the service.
In an effort to achieve a “more balanced and nuanced view”, a panel of senior officers and officials will conduct monthly reviews of new applicants who have been rejected because of a criminal record.
The Met admitted current policies were “very restrictive”, with HR director, Robin Wilkinson, telling The Evening Standard that the city was “intensively policed”.
Wilkinson said only “borderline cases” would be reconsidered: “Of course, an armed robber could not be a police officer nor could a murderer but we are looking at each case. It is about the severity of that case and the length of time that has elapsed since that case,” he said.
Scotland Yard is half way through its drive to recruit 5,000 new police constables by 2016. Under the Mayor of London’s Police and Crime Plan 2013-16, Boris Johnson pledged to create a police force that reflects the city it serves.
As part of the policy change, the Met has also announced it will recruit new constables exclusively from London, as the force attempts to reflect the capital's cultural diversity.
From Friday the 1st of August only candidates who have lived in Greater London for three out of the last six years will be eligible to apply to entry-level roles.
"It is vital that London's police force reflects the city it serves,” Johnson said.
The Met has previously faced criticism for being “too white” and the Macpherson report recommended that at least 25 per cent of officers should come from ethnic minorities by 2010. But a recent intake of recruits included just 10 per cent of new officers from ethnic minorities, while four in 10 Londoners are from an ethnic minority.
In March this year, Scotland Yard chief, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, called for a change in the law to allow positive discrimination to recruit more ethnic minority officers in London, but the Mayor stressed that “every police officer is always and will always be selected on merit”.
“There is more than enough talent in this great city to give the Met all the devoted and skilled new recruits they need to go on keeping Londoners safe," Johnson said.
The deputy mayor for policing and crime, Stephen Greenhalgh, said the policy “is all about competence rather than colour”, and highlighted the need for the force to reflect the changing demographic of the capital.
"As London grows and changes in the decades ahead, the police must change too so that they can police effectively and maintain public consent. That means having officers who understand the dynamics of this city and who have the skills to connect with and serve all Londoners," he said.
The policy change will not affect serving officers, existing Met police staff, members of the special constabulary, or existing police officers seeking to transfer from other UK forces.