Chief Superintendent Dal Babu quits police

After 30 years in the police service, one of the most senior Asian officers in the UK has decided to throw in the towel, citing little progress in BME officers being adequately promoted.

Dal Babu, himself was recently rejected for a promotion despite the fact that he speaks four languages, was awarded an OBE, holds a master's degree, and has been hugely credited for the soaring public confidence ratings in the London borough of Harrow which he is responsible for. Speaking in the Guardian Babu argues:

Responsibility for improving diversity lies squarely with chiefs and reveals there are pockets within the police that are still white male bastions – including specialist CID departments and firearms units’.

Babu added:

The police service is certainly a very different organisation from the one I joined when racist name-calling was commonplace. But my sadness is we have gone from 1% to 5% black and ethnic minority officers in 30 years. We have not managed to replicate the communities we serve. Our major cities are majority ethnic minority and yet the police force remains stubbornly white. We have ended up with lots of theory around police and diversity, and what we need is an ounce of action.'

Babu’s comments were echoed during a BBC televised debate hosted by Nicky Campbell, which asked the question: ‘Should police favour Black candidates.’

Former officer David Macfarlane, who was joined on the programme by Superintendent Leroy Logan both lamented how many officers who were recruited at the same time, or much later than them found progress, and promotion far easier. This failure, coupled with the lack of BME recruitment has meant that areas such as Leicester, which has a population of 50% BME has BME police not much more than 5%.

A retired white senior officer Dr Tim Brain, who had worked in the service for more than 30 years told the Campbell’s audience during the debate, that in all his time, even working in the St Paul’s area of Bristol, he had not witnessed one jot of ‘racism’.

It is perhaps this level of denial which occurs both at the operational side of the police and within recruitment and promotion that best illustrates Superintendent Babu’s reluctance to carry on.

It’s a shame, because we need more Babu’s not less.

http://www.obv.org.uk/our-communities/profiles/obv-profile-dal-babu-supe...

Simon Woolley