Advice please re Police blunder

by katiekitten 19 Replies latest jw friends

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  katiekitten

  In November last year my partner applied to become a Police Officer. He received a letter saying he had passed Stage 1 and would be invited to Stage 2 which was an assessment centre. Stage 3 was a fitness test which he was sure to pass as he has been running 6 miles a night in preparation.

  We received a letter in February 2006 telling us that 300 people had passes stage 1 but they only had 192 places at the assessment centre therefore he and 107 others had been 'randomly de-selected'. When we phoned up Gloucestershire Constabulary HR department we were told that they would not tell us how the 'random deselection' had taken place. But a couple of weeks later in the local paper an article appeared stating that white males had been filtered out of the selection process because Gloucestershire Constabulary was required by government to mirror the ethnic mix of the area it served.

  I wrote a letter to my local MP and also to Gloucestershire Constabulary asking a number of questions, including whether my partner stood any chance at all of becoming a Police Officer in view of his being a white male. I have not had a reply and I have been blocked from talking to the people involved - 4 phones on voicemail this morning, 2 officers who admitted that they have been told 'not to say anything' about the issue, and one officer assigned to reply to my letters who is permanently 'unavailable'.

  Now heres the problem. The government has set the Constabulary the targets of recruiting ethnic and female officers, and I have been told by an ex officer that the educational requirements are regularly lowered for ethnic minorities. Also they were within the law to stipulate a certain mix of recruits. But my issue is with the fact that 300 people were told that had passed stage 1, then 108 of those were told they had now been de-selected. This is very different from not being selected in the first place. If they had filtered out all the white males at the first sift no-one would have known what they were up to. But they made a huge mistake and actually told people who were good enough that they had passed stage 1 - then realised they wanted less white males and got rid of them. Is there anything I can do about this?

  What would people suggest?
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  ballistic

  If you do research on the internet on this, it is called "positive discrimination". The company I work for has targets to incorporate ethnic minorities but apparently is not allowed to positively discriminate. I'm not sure if the public sector has different rules.
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  katiekitten

  Thanks Ballistic, I will do that. Im trying to follow up every possible avenue. The whole thing stinks.

  Trouble is ive been getting myself so worked up about it I ended up crying on the phone to a sympathetic WPC this morning who said she fully empathised but had been told to say nothing. She had probably told me too much already.
• 

  Frannie Banannie

  If it were me, I'd contact the local EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and get THEIR view on this matter. Then you'll know where your SO really stands and what, if anything, can be done about the situation.

  Additionally, it might be prudent to contact the ACLU and get their viewpoint, in case his civil liberties have been violated in any way.

  Frannie
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  ballistic

  Frannie, I'm afraid those organisations don't apply in this country.
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  Frannie Banannie

  Oooops! Sorry, yall! Ball, don't they have anything comparable? If not, that sucks!
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  funkyderek

  This is an insidious American practice that is starting to gain ground in Europe. The woolly-headed reasoning used by supporters of "positive" discrimination is something like this: A community is best served if the ethnic/sexual makeup of its police/doctors/teachers matches that of the community. Therefore, some or all applicants should be selected based on their race/sex.

  Of course, the premise is flawed. In reality, a community is best served by having the most qualified and able police/doctors/teachers, regardless of their race or sex.

  katiekitten, your partner has been the victim of racial discrimination. He was refused a job because of the colour of his skin. The fact that this was done by the government makes it doubly heinous. I would fight it. The law is probably against you, but it might be worth seeing a lawyer anyway. The European Union prohibits such discrimination, so even if British law protects it, you may have a case in the European Court of Human Rights.
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  Bstndance

  Yeah here they have affirmative action. I think the people the originally thought it up meant well but it the way it was put into practice just plain sucks. No one is required to use the policy when hiring, but many public sector jobs do. I just hate the fact that although I am the best qualified candidate for the job, I am passed up because they have to fill a ethnic quota. I say may the best qualified candidate win.

  But there's always discrimination. For instance, I was at the mall and walked by the Hello Kitty store. All the employees were young Japanese girls. I know that if I applied there to work, I would most likely be told that I'm not right for the job. Even if I was well qualified.
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  katiekitten

  I guess.

  But surely its more important to get the VERY best person for the job in the Police force, than in the Hello Kitty shop!

  Ive been told by an ex policeman in Gloucestershire Constabulary that the educational standard is lowered for ethnic minorities to try and get more in. Surely thats insulting to the people who get in that way, and dangerous to the population they serve.

  It just sucks. BIG SIGH.

  Now if my partner was a lesbian, or maybe chewed his leg, or didnt originate in this country, he might stand a better chance.

  Crazy thing is my parter went mad when he got the de-selection letter, and said 'its because im white, if id been coloured etc etc etc. I went MAD with him, and really tore a strip off him for being ridiculous. Then the local paper got a statement of Gloucestershire Constabulary reporting that indeed the only ones de-selected were white males. I find myself thinking racist thoughts I would have seriously censured in someone else. This policy causes more damage than it solves.
• 

  Pubsinger

  Hi Katie.

  Try asking why there's a Black Police Officers Association but no White Officers equivilent.