APCC Response to quarterly Operation Uplift statistics
In response to today’s Quarterly Uplift statistics APCC Workforce Lead, Kim McGuiness, and APCC EDHR Lead, Hardyal Dhindsa, said the following:
"We are pleased to see that as recruitment of new police officers continues, our forces are increasingly becoming more representative of the communities they serve when it comes to ethnicity and gender.
"We do need to keep working together across policing to drive further and faster progress. In particular, the resurgence in the Black Lives Matter movement this year has shone a light on the need for us to encourage greater representation of Black communities within policing. Locally, Police and Crime Commissioners will play a vital role here, in terms of prioritising diversity within their Police and Crime Plans and holding their Chief Constables to account on further improvement.
"As we stated back in July, we also need to make sure that we continue building an inclusive culture within policing, so that those we recruit now will be able to thrive and reach their full potential within the Service.
"Nationally, both of us are working alongside fellow PCCs as part of the APCC Working Group on Race Disparity. One of the Group’s priorities is to ensure that the NPCC Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy is embedded with local plans, so that workforce diversity continues to improve throughout Operation Uplift and beyond.
"Meanwhile, many PCCs and Chief Constables are pioneering innovative approaches to encourage people from underrepresented communities to consider a career in policing. The APCC will continue to enable us to share best practice so that we can learn from each other about works in this regard going forward.
"Ultimately, greater representation means that our forces will be able to better understand and respond to the needs of our communities, reduce crime and keep us all safe."