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THE EXPERIENCE OF BLACK/MINORITY ETHNIC POLICE OFFICERS, SUPPORT STAFF, SPECIAL CONSTABLES AND RESIGNERS IN SCOTLAND
CHAPTER THREE
Further Findings
One of the issues emerging from the interview stage was that of officers and civilians who resigned from the forces. During interviews, some of the participants volunteered to facilitate contact between the author and resigners known to them. The author agreed to this and that immediately widened the scope of the research beyond what was originally planned. The author interviewed four resigners. It is hoped that this element of the research will help to identify issues in relation to retention of black and minority ethnic staff. As the scope of resigners is limited in this research, further research is required in this area. The issue of promotion was also highlighted at this stage, and this prompted the inclusion of the following question in all relevant subsequent interviews. "Has your ethnicity or colour been a barrier towards promotion in the Police Service?"
The following themes emerged from the individual interviews and focus group discussions.
- General lack of awareness of issues concerning racism.
- The "canteen culture"
- Isolation
- Pressure to belong to and perpetuate the existing work culture
- Special Constabulary
- Support Staff and Resigners
- Targeting underrepresented groups for recruitment purposes.
- Probationer Training
- Police Complaints System
- Black Police Officers Association
- Scottish Police Federation
General Lack of Awareness of Issues Concerning Racism
A general lack of awareness on issues concerning racism has been recognised, not only by minority ethnic Police Officers, but by the Police Service itself, and this lack of awareness has been used in the past to excuse attitudes and actions that cannot be justified. When black Officers complained about racist language, for example, it is this lack of awareness that resulted in their white colleagues' refusal to see a reason for the fuss. A black officer was asked when he once complained; "You know there was no intention to be racially offensive; a re you doing this to damage the career of your colleague?"
This is the mindset that is prevalent across the service, according to this particular officer. There is, therefore, a general reluctance to complain when racist comments are made. To reinforce this point, only 17% of officers who experienced racism complained formally and they all had negative experiences afterwards.
One officer who made a complaint said:
"I was effectively cold shouldered, you walk into a group of your colleagues and the silence is deafening. I brought this to the attention of a superior officer who told me that it would be the same reaction against anyone who complained and it has got nothing to do with the fact that the complaint was about racism. He went on to say that I was now being treated equally by my colleagues."
"For every incident I raised, I was always reminded that I was not the only minority person here, there were fat people and there were bald people and that they also got the 'mickey' taken out of them. When I asked what happens if I were bald, fat and black. I was told to take my pick. I was also reminded that I had no monopoly of feeling discriminated against because Scottish people have been discriminated against by the English for hundreds of years."
Another officer who never complained commented:
"There had been occasions during which I was treated fairly but you could see the effort that went into that. If you are black or Asian, you are never instinctively treated equally."
It can be said that this attitude is not peculiar to white officers, as many minority ethnic officers would not attribute any difficulty they have had within the Service to race or ethnicity. Some even went as far as saying they were grateful that things were not as bad as they could have been.
"When I joined the Police Force, I expected some hassle so I was prepared for it. What I have received is actually less than I had expected".
The above statement was made by an officer with about five years experience in the Service. He maintained that, whilst racism exists and is manifested in the attitudes and behaviour of officers, other officers would come to his rescue if it became unbearable. When asked what constituted "unbearable", his response was that it depended on the individual who was the victim.
Another Officer spoke of an incident during which he was referred to as "Sambo" by an Officer from a different Police Force and how colleagues from his force interjected and said to that Officer, "he is not your Sambo, he is our Sambo". This he said is an example of his colleagues standing up for him and an indication that he has been accepted as one of the group. What we see here is a coping strategy. The officer in question made it very clear that if he thought there had been any racist intention he would speak up but he did not consider being called "our Sambo" offensive or racist.
With the exception of two officers, all the officers who had been subjected to racial insults by colleagues maintained that their colleagues were not being malicious but that many of them were ignorant and others were thoughtless. It is this perceived lack of malice that softens the impact of racist comments on minority ethnic officers and makes them believe that things are not as bad as they might have expected. This is not to say that things are not bad, but only that things are tolerable. To complain about an act or comment which is not malicious only helps to make a bad situation worse.
The "canteen culture"
As indicated earlier, 69% of the participants in this research said that they have suffered racism in one form or another whilst in the employment of the Police Services in Scotland. One area of concern according to officers is the "light hearted" banter and jokes embarked upon by their colleagues. Such banter often includes a blatant display of racist language. The problem, the officers say, is the fact that the use of such language and attitudes is so widely accepted that such banter has become something of an occupational sub-culture. It is this sub-culture that is sometimes referred to as the "canteen culture". One officer talked about the way his colleagues referred to a racial awareness course he attended as the 'Paki Course'.
Some of the phrases that have been used by white officers when referring or speaking to minority ethnic colleagues include "Working like a nigger", "I'd rather be a darkie", (a line from a sectarian song) and Constable Habib, as per the WPC in the television series 'Thin Blue Line'.
When asked why they did not complain, one officer replied:
"It is futile to complain, it is much more effective to have a quiet word with the officer concerned. That way you don't lose friends."
Most of the officers spoken to, however, said that if things were really bad, they would complain even though they might be ostracised by colleagues. They also pointed out that the kind of language exemplified above is widely accepted within the Police Service, whether it relates to race, gender or other diversity issues that could put one at a disadvantage in society.
There is a very strong belief amongst officers that the intention of the individual telling the joke or making the statement is paramount and that if the individual did not intend to cause offence then no offence should be taken. This can be reasonably interpreted as "the act cannot hurt you unless the mind so intends".
This attitude was reflected when officers were asked whether their race or ethnicity has been the subject of jokes by other colleagues. Forty participants (77%) said "yes", but when asked whether they considered the remarks derogatory, thirty participants (57%) said "no". This interprets as 75% of those who said their race or ethnicity has been the subject of jokes by other colleagues. They explained that since it was said in jest no harm was meant. All of those who said "no" would, however, consider the same statement racist and derogatory were it to come from a member of the public whether or not it was said in jest.
When exploring these issues during Focus Group meetings, many officers agreed that their acceptance of such apparently racist utterances was a coping mechanism, which guarantees their survival and sometimes progress in the job.
One thing that came across very clearly was that when officers had cause to oppose the comments or actions of colleagues, they adopted a non-confrontational but firm approach as opposed to a making a formal complaint. To do this, officers had to be assertive. This requires a high level of confidence, which is not acquired in their first few years of service. By the time they gain this level of confidence they would have spent some time in the service and would have forged bonds and relationships. Findings from this research suggests the threshold for acquiring this level of confidence is somewhere between four and six years. Unfortunately, at this point in their careers the issue of racism, which still exists, is no longer seen as a problem as they have passed the "test" put to them by colleagues in early years. The issue is now seen as a challenge and whatever coping strategy had been employed up until this point will continue to be used. This means that other white colleagues can continue with their "racist" jokes and banter and the minority ethnic officer will continue to cope. This is a situation both sides can accommodate, and it could be perpetuated for the duration of their service.
The situation can be described as a "Catch 22", because the officers who cannot or would not stand for such abuse leave the Police Service before they reach the five-year threshold, while those who remain in the service have developed a strategy to cope with it, so that the issue is never addressed
It is difficult for the Police to draw up a list of behaviour that constitutes harassment; it is, however, not difficult to draw up guidelines to help officers determine the appropriateness of their conduct or otherwise.
Isolation
The feeling of isolation does not seem to be an issue in large forces, however in smaller forces, or where the individual has to serve in rural areas, isolation may be an issue.
When the feeling of isolation of individual officers was raised, most in the groups thought it was not a problem. They believed they had forged comradeship with their colleagues as a result of which they did not feel isolated. However, when it was pointed out that isolation also meant the lack of structures to support officers in unique cases like racial abuse or discrimination, they said it would be nice to see other minority ethnic faces, if only for the positive psychological effect.
Some participants said they were the only minority ethnic person in the whole of their community. In such circumstances, it is pertinent if not imperative that the supervising officers and line managers have a good understanding of diversity issues so as to be able to provide support as required by that officer in particular circumstances where racial issues are concerned.
Confidence building and assertiveness training in the early years of service might help in the retention of black officers for a longer period in the Police Service.
Pressure to Belong to and Perpetuate the Existing Work Culture
The situation described above shows that officers develop coping strategies to deal with the particular situation they find themselves in. To this end, many of them "buy into" the prevailing culture at work. This means that if the culture is one of racist name calling, they buy into it.
One serving officer said:
"I try to give as much as I get, but whatever I say in return to racist jokes, I have to look for something that singles out that individual from the rest of the group. Whatever that is, it cannot be his race. It is a 'no win' situation. If you make his race the subject of your joke then it's you versus the rest of the group and you would have legitimised racist banter so you can no longer complain because you are now guilty of the same offence. If you keep quiet, they interpret silence as consent and carry on anyway. So you try to neutralise the situation by cracking a joke about your own race or about yourself. This makes you acceptable to the rest because as they put it, you can laugh at yourself but what you have in fact done is to have given them the licence to carry on with racist behaviour in the guise of banter. The best thing to do is to keep quiet and let them carry on."
Another officer said:
"Joining the police is not just a job, it is a way of life and whatever they do, you do with them even if it means accepting racist jokes; when I first joined the force, they used to refer to me by my colour. They no longer do that now because they consider me to be one of them."
"If you complain, they will still make the racist remark in your absence so I keep quiet and play along, that way I know those who are closet racists and watch out for them. It does not mean that I accept their behaviour."
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