THE NUMBER of Black police officers newly recruited to work in Greater Manchester Police (GMP) force has plummeted to just 1%, according to new figures.

A national campaign was unveiled by the government in September 2019 to recruit 20,000 more police officers across forces in England and Wales. The Home Office wrote to chief constables to ensure that they also focused on improving racial diversity.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, backed the calls for more representation, particularly from Black police officers in the region’s force in an effort to tackle racial inequality in the northern city.

The Achieving Race Equality report, commissioned by Mr Burnham in 2021, revealed that just 9.3% of employees were from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds in March that year. 

Serving police officers from Black, African, Caribbean or Black British backgrounds made up 73 employees in 2021 compared to the 46 first accounted for in 2018.

However, The Voice can now reveal that the amount of Black police recruits has sunk from 3% in 2022 to 1% this year alone – the biggest drop compared to all other ethnic groups.

The stark figures, obtained from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, comes after the 2021 report which was backed by the council’s Race Equality Panel and “recognised there is more to be done in different ethnic minority communities, in particular the Black communities to achieve the required representation”.

Kate Green, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, said the fall in the recruitment of Black police officers at GMP was “disappointing” and that the lack of progress is reflected in police forces around the country.

“Having a police force that is representative of all communities is essential, not just in tackling racism or misogyny but in order for the police to build trust and confidence with everyone they serve,” she said.

“We simply have to be better at attracting Black people to apply for a career at GMP and a huge part of this is to build trust and confidence within that particular community. GMP are prioritising doing exactly that and have signed up as a lead ‘icebreaker force’ for the national Police Race Action Plan and are also working on a new plan that is focussed on attracting Black candidates.”

Ms Green said it was also their incentive for GMP to retain the Black police officers still left in the force and have opportunity to progress in the forces ranks.

She added: “This includes creating a culture of inclusion, where everyone feels valued and encouraged to bring their true selves to work. In turn, this makes for a better police force that has a greater understanding and ability to make better decisions when serving all people in all communities.”

The 2021 race equality report showed Black officers were far less likely to be in the higher ranks of the police force after a drop to just two sergeants and no change in the number of inspectors despite the increase in serving Black police officers that year. 

Out of GMP’s 11,700-strong workforce made up of police officers and police staff just 8.4% were from a Black, Asian or ethnic minority background. 

The Voice understands that in GMP force that Black members of staff make up 1% followed by 1.8% mixed ethnic backgrounds and 0.4% from other ethnic backgrounds.

The force previously revealed plans to combat the lack of Black police officers failing to complete the recruitment process through the city’s Positive Action plan through reviews of their polices and procedures.

The Police Race Action Plan, put together by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), have set out to make policing anti-racist and explain racial disparities geared towards Black communities.

The report is aiming to ensure that Black people and communities are properly represented in policing and that police officers and staff were educated on Black history and its connection to policing

The plan explained implementing a “collation and annual reporting of the ethnicity pay gap across
forces to understand and address any pay disparities” as well as to introduce an annual survey that can “capture data on the experiences and perceptions of Black officers and staff.”