A police chief has said he wants to discriminate against white job applicants and hire more ethnic minority officers.
Chief Constable John Robins of West Yorkshire Police has consistently pushed to reform laws across the country in order to boost the number of ethnic minorities in his force.
Mr Robins, who has been an officer for West Yorkshire Police since 1990, was appointed as its chief in 2019 and has overseen the dramatic new changes to its recruitment policy in recent years.
The force, which is currently putting applications from white Brits on hold, said it is accepting them ‘all year round’ from ‘under-represented groups’ such as black and Asian candidates.
One whistleblower who revealed the change in the hiring process said candidates from different backgrounds were being split into tiers, according to The Telegraph.
Black and Asian candidates are alleged to have been put into the ‘gold’ tier of being significantly under-represented in the police, while south-east Asians were given the ‘silver’ tier.
Meanwhile ‘white others’, including applicants from Britain, Ireland and eastern Europe were dropped into the lowest ‘bronze’ tier.
Defending the decision, a spokesperson for Mr Robins told MailOnline the police chief stood by his push to prioritise minority hires.
Chief Constable John Robins (above) of West Yorkshire Police has said he wants to discriminate against white job applicants and hire more ethnic minority officers
The force, which is currently putting applications from white Brits on hold, said it is accepting them ‘all year round’ from ‘under-represented groups’ such as black and Asian candidates (Pictured: West Yorkshire Police Headquarters)
One whistleblower who revealed the change in the hiring process, said candidates from different backgrounds were being split into tiers
The spokesperson said: ‘The Chief Constable’s position has not changed. It is a national view that he holds.’
The move has fuelled fears of creating positive discrimination, a practice considered unlawful in the UK.
But Mr Robins has previously argued that it helped hire Catholics to the Police Service of Northern Ireland following the Good Friday Agreement.
He said in 2023: ‘It worked in terms of religion in Northern Ireland. We’ve tried really, really hard over many decades, especially in the last five to 10 years, but there’s just systemic issues around applications.
‘I think the time has now come that legislation should change so that we should [use] positive discrimination.’
Conservative MP Neil O’Brien labelled the force’s hiring policy as ‘racist’.
Conservative MP Neil O’Brien (above) labelled the force’s hiring policy as ‘racist’
He told The Telegraph: ‘What West Yorkshire police are doing with their racist hiring policies and division of different ethnic groups is skirting the edge of the law. It is no surprise to discover they have been pushing for the law to be changed to legalise these racist hiring policies.
‘With gun crime in West Yorkshire at a record high, many people might think local police might have more important things to be focusing on.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss also said on Thursday that Britain has a ‘serious problem’ with ‘anti-white discrimination’.
Posting on X, she said: ‘Britain has a serious problem with police leadership being ideologically captured and pursuing anti-white discrimination. Ministers should have to answer for this and take back the powers to do so.’
The move comes just two months since West Yorkshire Police were found to have spent £1.4million ‘patronising’ the public with diversity staff.
The move comes just two months since West Yorkshire Police were found to have spent £1.4million ‘patronising’ the public with diversity staff
MailOnline reported how the force employs 19 diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) staff members and spends £361,000 of public money training them.
Last year, West Yorkshire Police also came under fire after they arrested a teenage girl when she said she looked like her ‘lesbian nana’.
The 16-year-old girl, who also suffers from spinal disability scoliosis, had been driven to her home in Leeds by officers after attending the city’s Gay Pride celebrations.
She had been there with her sister before allegedly making a ‘homophobic’ remark.
The girl was later dragged away ‘screaming’ by West Yorkshire Police officers in the early hours of the morning having been arrested on suspicion of ‘homophobic public order offence’.
Footage of the incident, filmed by the girl’s mother, went viral on TikTok – prompting a furious backlash online, as the officers were accused of heavy-handedness while leaving the girl cowering under the stairs in her own home.
The teenager, who has not been named, was held in custody for 20 hours after the incident and then released.
The West Yorkshire force later confirmed it would take no further action against the teenager and released her from her bail.
