Met Police chief backs 50:50 recruitment

[bigmarco]

The head of the Met Police has said he supports a 50:50 recruitment process to increase the number of ethnic minorities in the force.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26765540

I initially liked Hogan-Howe not least because the crime figures in London appear to be going down although some people question this.
I'd be more in favour of an initial application form to join the MET which didn't identify your Gender, Race or Religion which would then guarantee that the best are getting through to the next stage of the process regardless.
As regards the Met police having to "look like London" I haven't noticed a sudden increase in the appointment of Constables from the Roma community.

[Slip]

Many years ago I applied to be a police officer. I was the only white bloke out of 30 that turned up. I passed the physical, and written exams but failed the interview. I am a quiet person and not overly confident, so sat across a table from 3 officers in uniform was very daunting for a law abiding person like me! So I really didn't give a good account of myself. I tried again a few years back this time the format had changed and the interview was first, I failed once again. I was a lot more confident but didn't really give good enough answers to their questions so didn't get called back for the next part of the selection process.

I won't be applying again!

[Dedworth]

Rather than pandering to minorities it should be "fit in or off"

[Arthur Little]

Rather than pandering to minorities it should be "fit in or off"

Whilst I'm tempted to agree with your reasoning, Ded ... I tend to be more inclined towards the view that - rather than ... ... any kind of emphasis (at all) being placed on applicants' ethnicity - recruitment of officers appointed to uphold the law, in particular, should be based on candidates' psychological suitability crucial to the myriad of duties that the nature of the role demands - a factor not always apparent at interview during pre-selection assessment.

[grahamw48]

Rather than pandering to minorities it should be "fit in or off"

Totally agree.

For years the 'Met' has been regarded as the force to apply to if you can't get in anywhere else though.

I remember being being astonished by the diminutive size of many of the officers, as far back as 1970, when I went to live in London.

For some reason I'd pictured southerners as being large strapping people ...what with the easier life and better climate, but no.