ONE of Britain’s most senior minority ethnic officers has triggered a major race row after calling for Scotland’s police service to promote black and Asian candidates ahead of white colleagues.

Ali Dizaei, a chief superintendent at the Metropolitan Police in London, also said the proportion of minority ethnic officers in Scottish forces was so poor that there was “room for debate” about giving non-white recruits direct entry into the service above the rank of constable.

His support for the controversial policy of positive discrimination last night led to anger among police groups and has split race campaigners, who are nonetheless dismayed about the lack of progress made by non-white officers in Scottish forces. It comes as a Sunday Herald investigation reveals that from a total force strength of 15,963 officers, only 118 are recorded as being black or Asian.

In total, there are 107 constables, eight sergeants, two inspectors and one superintendent. Using data from the 2001 census, it is also apparent that Scotland’s forces fall short of reflecting the diversity of the communities they serve.

While in the Lothian and Borders region ethnic minority groups make up 2.5% of the total population, in the force they make up 1.1%. In Strathclyde the groups represent 2.7% of the population, but last year made up just 0.8% of officers. The disparity exists in every force, with the exception of Central Scotland Police.

Dizaei, who is also a legal adviser to the National Black Police Association and was once tipped to become the UK’s first black chief constable, said positive discrimination, also known as affirmative action, was “not about being nice to people”.

“It’s not about correcting the injustices of the past. It’s about making the police look like the community it serves,” he said.

“Now communities are saying that we want Lothian and Borders or Strathclyde to look like us [them].”

He added: “In your biggest force, Strathclyde, the highest ranking officer is a sergeant. How the hell do you explain that? It shows there are sticky floors. They don’t even get up far enough to hit the glass ceiling.”

Racism within the force has already been highlighted by the screening of the BBC documentary The Secret Policeman. The programme, which showed recruits wearing Ku Klux Klan-type hoods, led to separate reviews of the police and race relations in Scotland and England.

While the Scottish investigation is due to report in the summer, the review south of the Border, which was led by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), found that racism was still at the heart of the police service.

Dizaei called for Holyrood to introduce a law change allowing affirmative action. He said Scottish forces should adopt the 50-50 model of Northern Ireland where affirmative action is used as a temporary measure to ensure an equal number of Catholics and Protestants enter the force.

“Critics will say it will lead to a public outcry, but it’s about police legitimacy,” he said.

“I am suggesting selection among equally qualified candidates. I invite everyone to challenge the notion that affirmative action will lead to a drop in standards because that implies that people of colour have less standards than their white male counterparts. If ever there was an example of institutional racism, that is it.

“Ninety-five percent of crimes, from terrorism to burglary, are solved because people pick up the phone and give you information. If you do not have legitimacy in communities because you don’t look like them and don’t understand them, people are not going to give you that intelligence.

“Ethnic minority officers, by virtue of the fact that when they hang up their uniform they go back to those communities, play some part in bringing about that legitimacy.”

At the end of last month, Dizaei made the case for positive discrimination in the Scottish police service at the AGM of Semper Scotland, a police support group for non-white officers.

Robin Iffla, the organisation’s chair and a sergeant with Central Scotland Police, said the time was right for an “open and honest debate” about affirmative action.

He continued: “It’s a debate we really need to have to ensure we, as a Scottish police service, reflect the communities we serve. The community has a right to expect that.”

He said that Semper Scotland would now raise the issue of affirmative action with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

Last night, plans for affirmative action in Scotland were met with derision by police leaders. Doug Keil, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said: “Discrimination is discrimination and it is wrong.

“Any sort of favouritism causes resentment in those who happen not to be in the chosen group and would be very unhelpful.”

Dr Raj Jandoo, the lawyer whose 2001 report into the police investigation of murdered waiter Surjit Chhokar branded Strathclyde Police “institutionally racist” said affirmative action could be considered if “vigorous recruitment strategies” were shown to have failed.

Aamar Anwar, a human rights lawyer who trains police officers in race relations, opposed affirmative action but said that new terror legislation had set race relations between minority ethnic groups and the police in Scotland back by “decades”.

03 April 2005