Metropolitan Police makes diversity progress despite ‘Islamophobia’ fears

Recruitment at the Metropolitan Police is still buoyant despite the current pressurised political climate and constant terrorist threats, according to the service’s HR director, Martin Tiplady.

So-called ‘Islamophobia’ – prejudice against Muslims – has not had a negative impact on the Met’s recruitment, nor deterred people from ethnic minority backgrounds from applying, Tiplady said.

The Met is being sued by a Muslim firearms officer who was removed from duty after it was claimed his children attended a mosque with suspected terrorist links. Tiplady refused to comment on this case, but insisted that the Met had made big strides in diversity.

“We’ve made fantastic advances in terms of recruitment of black and ethnic minority officers over the past three or four years,” he told Personnel Today.

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“The Met is a microcosm of society and I don’t think police officers are any more Islamophobic than the general public.”

Tiplady estimated that 40% of recruitment applications had come from black and ethnic minorities in the past 12 months.