November 1, 2024
What the hell does a police 'Director of Belonging' do?
The post is to make sure the force interacts fairly and responsively with all the jostling communities.
The post is to make sure the force interacts fairly and responsively with all the jostling communities.

SOMETIMES it’s really, really important to say exactly what you mean. This week I bring you a cautionary tale of how a piece of “woke” drivel very nearly torpedoed an excellent initiative by West Midlands Police.

The force advertised a job. It pays a good screw – £74,000 p.a.; that’s what your average airline captain takes home. You should be able to feel a lot of felons’ collars for that kind of money, right? The job title: Assistant Director of Fairness and Belonging. Uhh? No – me neither. Sounds like the kind of thing Harry and Meghan would dream up. Hang on, though, there’s an accompanying job description. That should clarify things.

The force is looking for a “forward-thinking, creative individual” who will “support and oversee improved inclusive culture throughout the workplace”. The successful candidate must have an “authentic presence” and “be comfortable challenging senior leaders”. There’s more. They must also have “expertise, commitment and dedication to the inclusion agenda” with “influence felt across the force”.

Now look. I work with words for a living. Have done since I joined my local paper as a cub reporter at 16. I write novels. This column. My wife and I review books for our Richard & Judy Book Club. And, hand on heart, I couldn’t extract a scintilla of meaning from that ad. Not one solitary sausage of sense. There must be a message in it, somewhere – but it eluded me.

Anyway, what exactly does an Assistant Director of Fairness and Belonging DO? If it’s a deputy role, that must mean there’s a superior to answer to. With the assistant trousering £74k, you can bet the boss is on somewhere north of £100k. That’s getting on for £200k for… what, exactly? Certainly not catching criminals.

Predictably, there was immediate negative reaction locally.

[Interesting Read]

See Also:

(1) Police ‘are told to fine Covid rule-breakers after just ONE verbal warning’ as three officers ‘arrest a woman for sitting on a bench’ and another is surrounded for ‘leaving her house more than once’

(2) I am, for the first time, afraid for the future of freedom in my country

(3) SNP demands BILLIONS of pounds in compensation for Scotland over Brexit

(4) EU urged to emulate Brexit Britain as Ursula von der Leyen risks losing control

(5) Tony Blair comeback plot as former PM holds secret talks – ‘Wants to fix reputation

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