White applicants from a British or Eastern European background are at a disadvantage when applying for entry-level police constable roles at one of the U.K.’s largest police forces, according to reports by The Telegraph newspaper.
It has emerged that West Yorkshire Police permits Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates to submit job applications all year round, but White people must wait for specific recruitment drives, sparking accusations of positive discrimination.
The police force claims the move is designed to boost diversity numbers and make the police more reflective of the area’s multicultural society.
An internal whistleblower told the U.K. newspaper that Black and Asian applicants are labeled as “gold” category candidates and are encouraged to apply at any time. White candidates from Britain, Ireland, and Eastern Europe, meanwhile, are “bronze” applicants.
Rather than focusing on how qualified an applicant is, the branding effectively sees candidates prioritized initially purely on the color of their skin.
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