White applicants from a British or Eastern European background are at a disadvantage when applying for entry-level police constable roles at one of the U.K.’s largest police forces, according to reports by The Telegraph newspaper.
It has emerged that West Yorkshire Police permits Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates to submit job applications all year round, but White people must wait for specific recruitment drives, sparking accusations of positive discrimination.
The police force claims the move is designed to boost diversity numbers and make the police more reflective of the area’s multicultural society.
An internal whistleblower told the U.K. newspaper that Black and Asian applicants are labeled as “gold” category candidates and are encouraged to apply at any time. White candidates from Britain, Ireland, and Eastern Europe, meanwhile, are “bronze” applicants.
Rather than focusing on how qualified an applicant is, the branding effectively sees candidates prioritized initially purely on the color of their skin.
According to documents reviewed by The Telegraph, the whistleblower expressed concerns to senior management over the application process, stating: “The process restricts progression opportunities for White British candidates, while individuals from other backgrounds are swiftly advanced through recruitment stages.”
“We are currently accepting applications for the two police constable entry programmes (uniform and detective) from people from our under-represented groups… If you are not from one of these groups, please keep checking this page for future recruitment opportunities,” reads the recruitment page of the West Yorkshire Police website.
The force, Britain’s fourth-largest, insisted that “enabling people from an ethnic minority background to apply early does not give them an advantage in the application process” and that all applications are held until recruitment is opened for everyone.”
It claimed the current system simply allows the force to “attract talent from a pool of applicants who reflect the diverse communities we serve.”
West Yorkshire, a county in the north of England, has become an increasingly diverse area of Britain with a large Asian population, particularly from India and Pakistan.
According to the 2021 Census, 23.4 percent of the population in West Yorkshire identified as belonging to non-White ethnic groups. This had more than doubled from the 11.4 percent registered two decades previously at the 2001 Census.
Some 15.9 percent identify as Asian and 3.1 percent as Black.
In certain areas, particularly cities, this percentage increases considerably. In Bradford, for example, 61.1 percent of residents are White, with 31.1 percent identifying as Asian, Asian British, or Asian Welsh — over three times the national average.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson told the newspaper, “The most recent census found that 23 percent of people in West Yorkshire identified as being from an ethnic minority background. Our current police officer representation from ethnic minority backgrounds is around 9 percent. To address this under-representation, we use Positive Action under the Equality Act 2010.
“Positive Action allows people from under-represented groups who express an interest in joining the force to complete an application, which is then held on file until a recruitment window is opened.
“No interviews are held until the window is officially opened to all candidates.”
The whistleblower, however, suggested that while broadly accurate, ethnic minority candidates are regularly “shortlisted, sifted, assessed and invited to an interview before White candidates can even apply.”