National Black Police Association (NBPA) chief Ali Dizaei has called for positive discrimination to be introduced into the police force.
Speaking at the NBPA annual conference in York, Dizaei – a senior commander at the Met Police – admitted that the controversial move would cause rifts among white and black and ethnic minority officers, but “radical change” was needed.
“I’m not ashamed in saying that we need positive discrimination, simply because operationally, because of the threats we face in terms of people becoming radicalised. We need people in order to immerse them in the communities to give us the intelligence to deal with that,” he told the BBC.
Dizaei also called for financial sanctions on forces that failed to boost workforce diversity levels.
Earlier this month, the NBPA called for a recruitment boycott among potential applicants to the Met, claiming the force was racist and senior managers were not serious about tackling the problem.
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This led to Met HR director Martin Tiplady admitting that the under-fire force was “light years away” from achieving proportionate levels of black or Asian officers in senior ranks.
Dizaei is currently suspended from duty at the Met over allegations of misconduct, which he denies.
