England’s second-largest police force will shell out nearly two hundred thousand pounds per year on ‘woke’ diversity officers whose goal is to foster an environment of ‘inclusiveness’ rather than actually fighting crime.
West Midlands Police have announced that they will be hiring an ‘assistant director of fairness and belonging’ for an annual salary of £74,340.
The same amount of taxpayer money will be spent on an ‘an assistant director of talent and organisational effectiveness’ and an additional £28,725 to hire an ‘engagement and consultation officer’, The Sun reported on Saturday.
In total, the three diversity officers will cost the taxpayer some £180,000 per year.
A former detective chief superintendent, Kevin Moore told the newspaper: “Some forces are more interested in political correctness.”
West Midlands MP Nicola Richards said: “Last year in West Bromwich we saw some shocking crimes but instead of investing in more police, [Police and Crime Commissioner] David Jamieson is wasting £74k on a role like this.
“The Labour Police and Crime Commissioner should be able to promote diversity in the police himself while he starts to prioritise reducing crime, or he should move over for someone that will.”
Brexit leader Nigel Farage added: “I doubt taxpayers are happy that their money is being spent on jobs like this.”
Deputy Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine defended the West Midlands Police decision by saying that the force is trying to serve its “diverse communities”.
“West Midlands Police are the second-largest police force in the country and we are striving to have a workforce which is representative of the diverse communities we serve,” Jardine said.
“We have a number of key senior roles within the force who are in place to support, engage, develop and maximise the potential of our whole team,” she added.
Danielle Boxall, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), was harsher in her assessment, saying: “Taxpayers want their hard-earned cash spent on cops fighting crime, not cultural commissars preaching from behind their desks.
“Taxpayers want their hard-earned cash spent on cops fighting crime, not cultural commissars preaching from behind their desks. Police chiefs now need to justify these costs or refocus their funding on the frontline,” she said.
The multicultural city of Birmingham, the largest city under the care of the West Midlands Police, has seen increasing crime rates, with 84,039 crimes recorded in the year up to September of 2019, up 27 per cent over the previous year.
In September a local resident said that the city has “become unsafe” and that Birmingham has “got worse and worse”.
Another local said that “stabbings happen unfortunately all the time”, adding: “Nowadays Birmingham is dangerous, especially the city centre.”
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