- Conference
- Police Staff Service Group Conference 2006
- Date
- 24 July 2006
- Decision
- Carried
Police staff welcome the increased ‘civilianisation’ of roles in the Police Service that workforce modernisation has brought.
Less welcome is the inequitable way appointments to these new posts are often handled.
On too many occasions the successful ‘candidate’ for a newly civilianised post is the recently retired police officer who carried out that role, pre-retirement.
More often than not he has written the role profile for the post, so it fits him perfectly.
It is highly likely that because the role was always held by an officer, no member of police staff would have had the opportunity to perform in that role, nor could they acquire and thus demonstrate the required experience and skills.
The salary paid will in all probability be in excess of the Force average.
What is almost certainly guaranteed is that the person appointed to the newly ‘civilianised ‘role will be male, white, middle-aged and able bodied and probably heterosexual.
One of the boys!
Police Forces – our employers, proudly and justifiably boast their commitment to equality and diversity. But, when it comes to making appointments to positions in the way described here, they are falling foul of just about every bit of anti-discrimination legislation there is.
The continued lack of training and career development for police staff aid and abet this sorry situation. We are denied the opportunity to show what we are capable of achieving in the workplace because the emphasis is almost on an officer’s professional development and not ours. Therefore we are routinely overlooked and under-valued in the service.
Conference, it is high time that these discriminatory appointments were challenged. We call upon the Service Group Executive to:
1.Collate statistics on these appointments and use the evidence to highlight the discriminatory practices adopted in Forces with relevant agencies and government departments, with a view to establishing a fairer system for us all.