The Metropolitan Police will continue its drive
to recruit more officers from ethnic backgrounds by visiting some of London’s
most culturally diverse areas.
The Met’s Positive Action Team (PAT) will visit the
capital’s Queens Park district tomorrow as part of a rolling campaign which
will see officers visiting two areas each week.
Inspector Mark Weaver, head of PAT recruitment told
Personnel Today he was hoping to attract diverse recruits with a more targeted,
local approach.
"We’re proactively going out into the community to
engage local people and hopefully breaking down some of the barriers that
prevent them from joining the police," he said.
Plain clothes PAT officers will be joined by uniformed
police at a recruitment stand where they will distribute information and
postcards as well as chatting to local people about the Met.
Weaver believes the initiative will help build trust in the
force and provide a visible police presence in areas where the Met was
previously mistrusted. "It’s a two pronged initiative," he said,
"because it makes us more visible and transparent as a police force and
also helps us recruit people from those communities."
The Queens Park visit follows a pilot held in Stratford and
PAT will be visiting other areas including Ilford, Uxbridge, Hounslow and
Brent.
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In the past year, 9.8 per cent of new recruits came from minority backgrounds and the service is
hoping to extend this by sponsoring more cultural events.
