A CONVERSATION over a prayer breakfast led to the creation of a
recruitment event - thought to be unique - in which 50 members of
the black and minority-ethnic communities signed up as potential
police constables.
The Bishop of Sherwood, the Rt Revd Anthony Porter, hosts five
prayer breakfasts a year for the leaders of black-majority churches
in Nottingham. At a recent breakfast attended by the county's Chief
Constable, Chris Eyre, the representation of ethnic minorities in
the police was discussed, and the idea for a day-long recruitment
seminar emerged.
The Chief Constable challenged the faith leaders to "help shape
the future of policing in our communities by bringing to the event
as many talented potential recruits as you can; people who . . .
want to serve our communities through policing".
The event took place earlier this month at a Nigerian
Pentecostal church in the city, God's Vineyard. The 50 people who
signed up at the event will receive support and guidance from the
police.
"The inspirational testaments given by minority officers, both
experienced and new, about what policing meant to them were
something I will never forget," Chief Constable Eyre said. "The 50
people who signed up to become police officers on Saturday show how
important the event was to them. They will go through the selection
process, but, with support from their churches, faith communities,
and our recruitment team, a number of them will become police
officers within the next few months."
Bishop Porter, a former police chaplain in Moss Side, Greater
Manchester, said: "I know from personal experience how important it
is that the police draw their officers from ethnic-minority
communities.
"The Chief Constable . . . has formed good relationships, and it
is from those ongoing relationships that we work together in
seeking to recruit potential officers from ethnic-minority
groups.
"As a former police chaplain myself, I have enormous respect,
sympathy, and understanding of what it means to be a police officer
on the front line . . . and an understanding that, as a Church, we
need to work together with the community to make cities safer and
kinder places."