Met Police under fire for blocking white males from attending workshops that help minority and female officers gain promotion
Britain's biggest police force is offering bespoke workshops to minority and female recruits to help them gain promotions.
Scotland Yard has so far put 1,500 minority staff through its mentoring programme to help improve their chances of promotion.
It is the latest force to be accused of racist hiring policies, after West Yorkshire Police placed a temporary block on hiring white officers.
A former Metropolitan Police inspector said the performance of an officer had no bearing on their chances for promotion, which was determined solely through workshops, scenarios and interviews.
He told the Daily Telegraph: 'Ethnic and female officers are individually selected and given additional workshops, coaching and access to professional coaches to make sure they are better prepared for the final promotion exam.
'White males are excluded from these workshops simply because of their biological sex and colour of their skin.'
In an email sent to eligible candidates seen by the Mail, officers are told: 'You have been selected to attend this workshop as the Met has a series of People Priorities, which underpin the organisation's overall strategy, one of which is to improve black and minority ethnic and female representation at all police officer ranks.
'As part of the approach to achieving this, frameworks for focused support are provided for both BME and female candidates to nurture and develop their talents, including provisions to support preparation for assessment – this workshop is one such provision. We ask that you do not share this email with your colleagues.'
The source said they feared white male officers were essentially the victims of prejudice but did not know it. 'I believe that any form of racism is abhorrent,' he said. 'Treating someone differently simply because of the colour of their skin or biological sex is unlawful and immoral.
'To me, positive discrimination is still illegal, divisive and creates victims.'
A Met spokesman said: 'We want a workforce that looks and feels like the capital – allowing us to move effectively engage with Londoners, gain their trust and cut crime. This policy is a step towards achieving that.'
In the force's Race Action plan, which was published online last year, the force said that its mentoring network had supported 1,500 ethnic minority officers and staff and has been recognised by the College of Policing as 'best practice'.
It adds: 'Since 2021, Positive Action workshops for black officers have seen pass rates for promotion increase from 68 per cent to 75 per cent.'
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