Our
irascible insider on… when good ideas turn silly
When the drive for diversity goes a bit too
far…
There’s
one thing you can say about a stupid idea – it never goes away very easily.
Enter
the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and quotas. Last week, it set the
scene for its upcoming annual conference by calling on the Government to
"seriously consider" setting quotas so that more officers from ethnic
minority communities are appointed.
But
how is this to be achieved when initiatives to attract black and Asian
candidates have not met set targets?
Well,
the NBPA seems to have just the one idea: if two applicants, one white and one
non-white, are of the same standard, then the non-white applicant should get
the job. Or, put another way, if a white candidate is of the same standard as a
non-white applicant, they won’t get the job.
This
sort of nonsense undermines the principle of merit which should underpin any
worthwhile recruitment process. Â
Such
a procedure would require legislation to be lawful, and that will not be easily
achieved. And it would also probably fall foul of human rights laws, in spirit
if not in word.
And
what sort of selection process does the NBPA think should be put in place to
ensure that a quota system is fulfilled? Press
gangs on the streets? Questionnaires
and entry tests, and more bureaucracy to administer a flawed and burdensome
selection process?
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Instead
of this, the NBPA should think of what its paymasters, the general public,
wants: an effective force recruited on merit.
But
don’t hold your breath. An outbreak of such sanity is unlikely
