Background

About Us

SEMPERscotland is a Scottish-wide organisation born out of the pressing need to ensure race equaility within the Scottish Police Service.
It was established in 2003 to primarily support and represent minority ethnic employees.

The organisation is run by an executive committee made up of members of staff from various ranks and levels within the service, who are committed to promoting wider understanding of the needs of minority ethnic employees and the valuable contribution they made to the overall success of policing in Scotland.

SEMPERscotland is the organisation specifically created to support and represent all minority ethnic employees in the police services of Scotland.  The Scottish-wide staff association serves all eight forces, British Transport Police and the Scottish Police Services Authority.

The organisation is managed by a board made up of members of staff from various ranks and levels within the Service, who are committed to promoting wider understanding of the needs of minority ethnic employees and their contribution to the overall success of the policing in Scotland.

Full membership of the ‘rainbow’ organisation is open to all minority ethnic serving police officers, special constables or police staff employed by any of the Police Services in Scotland.  Associate membership is open to individuals – regardless of ethnic background; companies and other corporate bodies outwith the Police Services, who support the aims of SEMPERscotland.

SEMPERscotland is a member of the National Black Police Association (UK).

History

On the heels of the McPherson Report on the inquiry into the death of black teenager, Stephen Lawrence, with its criticism of a culture of “institutionalised racism”, police forces throughout the UK had a long, hard look at their attitude towards the minority ethnic population.

In order to get an insight into reported racially discriminatory practices in the internal operations of the Scottish Police Service, the Scottish Executive Central Research Unit commissioned the prominent Equal Opportunity Advisor, Daniel Onifade, to conduct a comprehensive in-house research.

In May 2002, Mr. Onifade presented his report ‘The Experience of Black/Minority Ethnic Police Officers, Support Staff, Special Constables and Resigners in Scotland’, which found that an overwhelming number of the minority ethnic police staff interviewed felt they have been the victims of varying forms of racism and inequitable practices within the Service.

Armed with those findings, coupled with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspectorate of Constabulary’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ report into racism in the Scottish Police Service, all minority ethnic staff were invited to attend a seminar at Dunblane to discuss the way forward.  From this assembly, it was clear that more needed to be done to directly address a number of issues and, more importantly, support and advice minority ethnic employees.

Against that background, Supporting Ethnic Minority Police staff for Equality in Race, SEMPERscotland, was formed.

It was publicly inaugurated on October 14, 2003 by Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, at Tulliallan Castle.  At the launch it received wide-ranging support from, among others, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the Lord Advocate, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Scottish Executive.  The First Minister, Jack McConnell, welcomed the initiative and pledged his “support for the aims of SEMPERscotland as part of the wider recognition by the Police Service of the need to address the concerns of minority groups”.

SEMPERscotland became fully operational in January 2005.