Police failing to bring in talent from black communities, says racism lead - BBC News
The man tasked with tackling racism in the police says racist incidents have been damaging.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. David Thompson responds to criticism that he is the NPCC's lead on racism as a white man

The police have failed to "bring in enough talent from black communities and ensure they thrive," the lead for tackling racism within UK forces says.

Sir David Thompson, chief constable of West Midlands Police, told BBC Newsnight racist incidents involving officers had been damaging.

He added it was a shame the police were not "an employer of choice for many communities".

A plan on how best to solve the issue will be published in April.

The interview follows a series of revelations of racism in policing - including a recent report by the police watchdog disclosing racist WhatsApp messages exchanged between officers.

Another report released this month found the strip-search of a 15-year-old girl, known as Child Q, was unjustified and racism was "likely" to have been a factor. The Met Police has since apologised.

The BBC interviewed Sir David before the Child Q revelations.

In a report published last year by the Home Affairs Select Committee, MPs said only 4% of officers at or above the rank of chief inspector in England and Wales were from black and minority ethnic backgrounds by 2020.

Officers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds also represented just 7% of the whole police service across England and Wales by the same year - which MPs said was still "far below the 14% of the population" from these backgrounds.

Sir David, the lead for race and inclusion at the National Police Chiefs' Council, called the low numbers a "failure" on the part of police leaders.

He said it was his job to make sure the action plan for the NPCC and the College of Policing helped to improve the situation by winning trust.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Sir David explained the plan would focus on four areas, including:

When asked about whether a white man should be leading a policy on combating racism, he acknowledged it was a "legitimate question".

"We've got black and ethnic minority staff and chief officers engaged in this work," he said.

"If we're going to succeed in building an anti-racist police force, surely it is the people in the majority - white men - who have to be at the forefront saying this needs to change," he continued.

Sir David said the programme was being developed with black communities and partners, including the National Black Policing Association.

He also said the term institutionally racist was "often too crude a term for policing".

"It's not as simple as saying, 'well the policeman is usually racist, so everything is broken'. This plan is about tackling institutional issues in policing, not just individual behaviours."