What minority ethnic police officers face on the job – and how to fix policing culture

Diversity in recruitment could help rebuild trust in police.

It was only last year that the independent Casey review concluded that the Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic. And things have only gotten worse.

Recent police employment tribunal data showed significant increases in claims of racism brought by current or former London Met police officers. Black, Asian and other minority ethnic officers report frequently experiencing blatant racism, stereotypes and hostility from fellow officers.

Now, the National Black Police Association has withdrawn its support for chief constables’ race action plan, which was introduced in 2020. The chair of the board charged with overseeing the plan says too little progress has been made, with some forces taking no interest in anti-racism at all.

The Met Police are now seeking new recruits with the aim of changing the culture, but it is difficult to see how this can be done without meaningfully addressing and supporting diversity.

Some chief constables in England and Wales are making inroads in changing the culture in their own forces. But we need a compulsory, streamlined national approach.

The new Labour government has its work cut out for it in terms of restoring trust in the police. Low confidence continues to be eroded by persistently low crime investigation rates and high-profile instances of misconduct and criminal activity. Much of this misconduct is related to the discrimination outlined in the Casey report, which has existed for decades.

Policing culture

The problem at the Met and many other police services is that racism, sexism, homophobia and other biases are embedded in the institution’s culture. Police culture is the set of norms that set the tone, expectations and expected behaviours for cops.

Police institutions generally have multiple cultures including for street officers, middle management and senior leaders. But the nature of policing means street police culture is most influential on police behaviour. Much research has found that street police culture in particular is characterised by racism, aggression, escalation, intolerance, hierarchy, misogyny, homophobia and alienation from marginalised communities.

It is no surprise that officers from minority ethnic, female and LGBTQ+ backgrounds experience racism, misogyny and homophobia on the job. Officers of colour and women continue to leave policing at higher rates than their white male colleagues. As the Casey report observed, this also takes a toll on legitimacy in policed communities.

Lord Macpherson first found the Met institutionally racist in 1999, following the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Macpherson recommended significantly increasing police diversity to change the culture. Twenty-two years on, a parliamentary report report (for which I provided evidence) found little has been done to build legitimacy with communities of colour, or to recruit officers of colour and support the challenges they face on the job.

Recruiting diverse forces

Ethnic minorities are significantly underrepresented in the police services, making up 8.4% of officers in England and Wales but 19% of the population.

My new book Police Diversity: Beyond The Blue compares police officers’ experiences of diversity and discrimination in the UK and US over several decades. I found that in both countries, officers from underrepresented backgrounds – people of colour, women, LGBTQ+ and others – experience bigger hurdles on the job than their straight, white and male colleagues. Because they are seen as outsiders, they often have to work extra hard to prove their worth as cops.

This leads minority police officers to a tough choice. They can lean into policing aggressively to show their mettle – even toward their own communities. Or they can push back against problematic police culture norms.

They may try to police differently by working with communities, using discretion wisely, building trust and good relationships. But officers who take this approach can face severe work consequences.

Research in the UK shows this pushing back against discrimination can lead to higher levels of harassment, internal discipline and lack of promotion. Worst of all, they may not be backed up by other officers on dangerous service calls.

Rebuilding trust

Racism, sexism and homophobia within police institutions also harm relations with the communities they police. For years, studies have shown that minority communities have lower levels of trust and confidence in England and Wales police than other groups.

Much of this is due to discrepancies like higher rates of stops and search in minority communities.

Studies from other jurisdictions show that the more diverse the police are, the more fair they are seen to be in communities, and the more credibility and respect they have. For many ethnic minorities, interactions with ethnic minority officers can improve police legitimacy.

Building a more diverse police force – and fast – is essential to reducing racism in police institutions and building new cultural norms.

I and others including police leaders and MPs have called for positive discrimination in police recruitment.

A temporary, ten-year positive discrimination plan in England and Wales policing could follow Northern Ireland Police Service’s successful 50:50 hiring model.

In this approach, vacant officer positions are filled by qualified candidates from alternating candidate pools in merit order. While Northern Ireland did this by religion – Catholic and non Catholic – it could be adapted to England and Wales with race (people of colour and white applicants). The plan could set a national target to reach 25% ethnic minority representation by 2034, consistent with UK population projections.

Police institutions also need more scrutiny, accountability and consequences for misconduct from both individual officers and organisations wholly independent from policing. The UK’s existing police conduct watchdog is under-resourced for its ever increasing caseload of misconduct complaints, and is not designed for systemic problems.

In the US, the government sues police departments who act in racist, misogynistic and classist ways. These lawsuits generally settle with consent decrees: court orders mandating changes to the police force, from recuitment to handling misconduct.

These court-monitored agreements can last years, if not decades. They have been used and had positive results in cities like New Orleans and Ferguson, Missouri.

The UK needs to adopt these type of bold accountability solutions to curb structural police bias problems. The new government is well positioned to make meaningful change.

Tara Lai Quinlan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.