Activist: Top cop should take stand

Mr Fahy, the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, said today that new laws are needed to ensure that the force attracts more black and ethnic minority officers.

In addition, as the head of workforce development for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), Mr Fahy added that he was "embarrassed" at a growing diversity problem.

He made the comments after new Police Minister Damien Green said he was "struck" by the depth of the police's diversity problem.

But president of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) Charles Crichlow told the Star that Mr Fahy was simply dodging responsibility for the problem.

He said: "I'm going to be real frank - I think the chief officers love things just the way they are, despite the statement by Peter Fahy and others.

"The Equality Act already gives chief officers the latitude to be flexible in their recruitment policies and he [Mr Fahy] hasn't really done a lot."

Mr Crichlow claimed that the new legislation proposed by Mr Fahy would take months to be processed by Parliament, thus kicking the issue into the long grass.

He also said that the government is introducing a "direct entry" scheme to allow the police to recruit superintendents from outside the force and added that the NBPA put forward proposals for a focus on recruiting black and ethnic minority officers in the first round of that scheme.

But he revealed that Acpo, the Police Federation and the Superintendents Association all oppose that suggestion.