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The Metropolitan police force is recruiting at Bollywood cinemas and sponsoring Chinese New Year as part of a drive to meet diversity targets.
The new director of HR at the Met, Martin Tiplady, told Personnel Today these initiatives are an example of the force exploring new ways of getting ethnic minorities interested in a police career.
Tiplady, who took up the role five weeks ago, said that despite recent improvements, meeting tough ethnic targets required a creative approach.
"What we have to look at are new and innovative ways of achieving our aims, because the sort of targets we have will need a new impetus."
The Met has been set a target of having 5 per cent of officers from ethnic minorities. He said: "We've got some very challenging targets over the next five years but there is not one shred of doubt in the organisation that it's the right thing to do," he said.
"A positive-action team working within the Met is forging relationships with ethnic communities around the capital to develop fresh ways of recruiting, and we've got lots of work to do to continue the progress."
Tiplady claimed the force is on course to hit the diversity target by the end of the financial year.
"Undoubtedly, a more culturally representative force is becoming a reality. On 31 December we had 26,390 officers, of which nearly 16 per cent were women and 4.5 per cent were from visibly ethnic minority groups."
The attempt to attract more under-represented groups includes sponsoring cultural events as well as advertising in minority press and publications.
Director of HR selection at the Met, Jenny Deere, said these activities are helping to improve the intake of officers from ethnic minorities.
"We needed a more proactive approach to attracting people from all sorts of cultural and ethnic backgrounds," she explained.
By Ross Wigham
Officer recruits hit record level
The Met has opened a £1.1m recruitment and selection centre to help deal with a record intake of new officers.
Some 1,000 new recruits are currently training at Hendon, ensuring the college is full for the first time.
A total of 2,222 people have joined the force since April and a further 300 recruits are anticipated in February.
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