Martin Red
10-22-2003, 04:08 AM
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39473000/jpg/_39473928_gmpvest203.jpg
Two from Greater Manchester Police, one from Cheshire and one from the North Wales force were taken off duties after the programme was broadcast on Tuesday.
Three officers from GMP and one from North Wales had already been suspended before the documentary was aired.
Police and the Home Office expressed shock and sadness at the attitudes shown in the film, The Secret Policeman, which included footage of one officer dressing up in an improvised Ku Klux Klan hood.
Deputy Chief Constable Alan Green of Greater Manchester Police said: "I was shocked, ashamed and very saddened by what I saw".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that while the force "had made great strides" to improve the situation, the programme did show the GMP "hasn't done enough and we need to do more".
"The service needs to do more to ensure that these type of people do not get into the service and that is what we are committed to doing."
'Extreme views'
The presence of recruits with allegedly racist views was a result of recruiting from the community, he said.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39476000/jpg/_39476578_kukluxklan300.jpg
One officer is shown wearing a Ku Klux Klan mask in the programme
"We recruit from ordinary members of the public, some of whom have very extreme views.
"Clearly what we need to do is ensure that those extreme views are sorted out before people join the police services so that we can provide a service to all of our communities that does not present this type of individual to them."
He said there were "rigorous" tests for discriminatory views, including racism and sexism.
Monitoring during and after training was essential to ensure police officers did not hold racist views, he added.
"One of the things we will have to look at very seriously is to ensure all of our staff feel comfortable in actually challenging, confronting and reporting this type of behaviour when they come across it."
"The vast majority of our officers are honest, law abiding officers who work with integrity and want to provide a service to all our community in a fair manner."
Undercover filming
The documentary showed recruits at a police training centre in the North West using the terms "nigger" and particularly "Paki" with regularity.
Undercover reporter Mark Daly recorded one officer, Pc Rob Pulling of North Wales police, apparently saying he would kill an Asian person "if I could get away with it" and a string of other racist comments.
Pc Pulling also said Hitler had had the "right idea" but had gone about it in the wrong way.
The Home Office minister Hazel Blears expressed shock at the documentary.
"I was appalled at the deeply held racist views that came out from some of those at the programme," she told the Today programme.
"I was also shocked at the stupidity and immaturity of the people who had got through that training programme."
She said that since May this year a new training system had been implemented across the whole police service.
Weeding out
Recruits were tested seven times on diversity and race views.
She said 4.5% - 79 people - had failed the training on the diversity testing alone.
A number of recruits had failed the test because comments they made "in the corridors", she said.
"I believe that system will be much more rigorous in weeding out the kind of horrific people we saw last night.
"It's absolutely key that we get them out of the system if we are to have the confidence of the community."
Mr Daly, 28, joined GMP as a trainee officer and secretly filmed recruits at Bruche National Training Centre in Warrington, Cheshire.
SOURCE = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3203287.stm
Two from Greater Manchester Police, one from Cheshire and one from the North Wales force were taken off duties after the programme was broadcast on Tuesday.
Three officers from GMP and one from North Wales had already been suspended before the documentary was aired.
Police and the Home Office expressed shock and sadness at the attitudes shown in the film, The Secret Policeman, which included footage of one officer dressing up in an improvised Ku Klux Klan hood.
Deputy Chief Constable Alan Green of Greater Manchester Police said: "I was shocked, ashamed and very saddened by what I saw".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that while the force "had made great strides" to improve the situation, the programme did show the GMP "hasn't done enough and we need to do more".
"The service needs to do more to ensure that these type of people do not get into the service and that is what we are committed to doing."
'Extreme views'
The presence of recruits with allegedly racist views was a result of recruiting from the community, he said.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39476000/jpg/_39476578_kukluxklan300.jpg
One officer is shown wearing a Ku Klux Klan mask in the programme
"We recruit from ordinary members of the public, some of whom have very extreme views.
"Clearly what we need to do is ensure that those extreme views are sorted out before people join the police services so that we can provide a service to all of our communities that does not present this type of individual to them."
He said there were "rigorous" tests for discriminatory views, including racism and sexism.
Monitoring during and after training was essential to ensure police officers did not hold racist views, he added.
"One of the things we will have to look at very seriously is to ensure all of our staff feel comfortable in actually challenging, confronting and reporting this type of behaviour when they come across it."
"The vast majority of our officers are honest, law abiding officers who work with integrity and want to provide a service to all our community in a fair manner."
Undercover filming
The documentary showed recruits at a police training centre in the North West using the terms "nigger" and particularly "Paki" with regularity.
Undercover reporter Mark Daly recorded one officer, Pc Rob Pulling of North Wales police, apparently saying he would kill an Asian person "if I could get away with it" and a string of other racist comments.
Pc Pulling also said Hitler had had the "right idea" but had gone about it in the wrong way.
The Home Office minister Hazel Blears expressed shock at the documentary.
"I was appalled at the deeply held racist views that came out from some of those at the programme," she told the Today programme.
"I was also shocked at the stupidity and immaturity of the people who had got through that training programme."
She said that since May this year a new training system had been implemented across the whole police service.
Weeding out
Recruits were tested seven times on diversity and race views.
She said 4.5% - 79 people - had failed the training on the diversity testing alone.
A number of recruits had failed the test because comments they made "in the corridors", she said.
"I believe that system will be much more rigorous in weeding out the kind of horrific people we saw last night.
"It's absolutely key that we get them out of the system if we are to have the confidence of the community."
Mr Daly, 28, joined GMP as a trainee officer and secretly filmed recruits at Bruche National Training Centre in Warrington, Cheshire.
SOURCE = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3203287.stm