Wiltshire Police wants to get more black officers on the frontline
The county force says they're working hard to increase diversity.
Last updated 16th Oct 2020
As Black History Month gets underway, Wiltshire Police say they're committed to raising the number of black officers within their ranks.
Latest Home Office figures show there are only 19 BAME officers within the organisation - that's just 1.4% of all warranted officers in Wiltshire.
The force's Ethnic Police Association Chair, Megan Kenzie, says recruiting more black officers is 'at the forefront' of what they're trying to achieve.
She says her group meets up monthly, to discuss the issues black police face on the frontline:
"They obviously go through racism within the public, where they're racially abused. Sadly, it does still happen, so my role and the group's role is to act as support if they even go through anything like that."
Wiltshire Police will be marking Black History Month by having their first ever joint conference with Wiltshire Council, next week.
Megan Kenzie is Wiltshire's Equality, Diversity and Inclusions Sergeant.
She says whilst the force has more black police than when she started 15 years ago, there's still some way to go:
"Within our higher ranks within Wiltshire, there is nobody above the rank of sergeant that is black, Asian or minority ethnic. I think we're just behind. When I talk about when I joined and how low the numbers were, we do have a lot more officers and staff now, but do we have that big pool? No, we don't."
Megan's calling for better representation during the recruitment process to help with diversity too:
"If you have two white males on an interview panel, how would that overcome the unconscious bias that we definitely know is there. I've said, in my opinion, we need an independent person, from a BAME background, on board at those interviews, and that needs to be mandatory."