The slow race for change. Minority ethnic officers in UK constabularies. Free public lecture
Administered by Social Sciences: Sociology, Social Policy, Criminology & Anthropology. As part of Black History Month during October, we are holding a free lecture for the public to explore issues around low numbers of BME groups joining the police.
Despite changes advocated by successive governments, especially after the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report was published, ethnic minority officers still form a small percentage of the police workforce.
Why has this situation persisted for so long and why does it matter? Is it because they are reluctant to join the police? Maybe the explanation lies elsewhere, not least in discrimination experienced by officers working in constabularies?
In this public lecture Professor Simon Holdaway, a former police officer, discusses his extensive research about the experiences of Black and minority ethnic police officers in the UK. His research for over more than a decade is based on interviews with serving officers throughout England and Wales. He will describe changes in their views of understanding their experiences of being police officers and, crucially, of being Black and minority ethnic police officers.