If you want to join the UK Metropolitan police now, you must be able to speak a second language in addition to English - at least one out of 14 languages and Yoruba is one of them. The police say this is because 300 languages are spoken in London
UK Daily Mail reports.
Scotland Yard has come under fire today after placing an advert demanding that anyone wanting to join as a police officer be able to speak a second language. The Metropolitan Police wants to bolster the number of officers able to speak and understand 14 languages which are widely used across London. But the move has sparked criticism from a former officer and members of the public on Twitter.
Retired Met Police officer Chris Hobbs wrote: 'I've kept reading and re-reading it. Can't believe it. What about potential BME (black and minority ethnic) recruits who only speak English.'
He added: 'Won't this also adversely affect the recruitment of guys and girls from the black community whom we would like 2 [sic] see more of?'
After Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe set an ambitious target of having 40 per cent of all officers from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, only 18 per cent met that criteria when the latest intake passed out in March.
According to a report published by the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee in December 2014, before the most recent recruitment campaign, only 11 per cent of officers serving in the Met were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, compared with approximately 40 per cent of the population of London. The current BME figure in the Met is now 12 per cent.
Members of the public also appeared less than enthusiastic about the new initiative.
Simon Holdaway tweeted: 'The Met's lack of understanding of the problems it faces is stunning', while another user wrote: 'the lunatics have finally overtaken the asylum.'
Meanwhile, Carole Hawkins tweeted: 'For £19,000 a year, this country is now getting really stupid.'
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