News: Contract Law
Discrimination awareness achieved through training, not "an MA"
29 October 2008
The nation's police force needs urgent training on discrimination and equal opportunities, the president of the National Black Police Association has suggested.
Speaking at his organisation's annual conference in York this week, Ali Dizaei - a senior commander in the Metropolitan Police - remarked that discrimination awareness is not something which can be picked up in the education system.
Current vetting procedures are "obsolete", he added to the BBC.
"We believe that these skill sets are not ones you can learn doing an MA at a university," said Mr Dizaei.
Referring to Britain's ongoing preoccupation with radicalism and extremism, he continued that "the right people with the right skill sets" are needed now more than ever.
"Positive discrimination" which boosts the number of black and Asian police officers would assist in achieving this aim, according to Mr Dizaei.
In related news this month, the Financial Times reported on retail banking group Abbey's "extraordinary" decision to fight a record payout for race discrimination.
Former accountant Balbinder Chagger made tribunal history with his £2.8 million reward, the publication revealed.
