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Police face race 'test'

1/11/2002

'MYSTERY shoppers' may be used to check if Greater Manchester police are being racist or biased against ethnic minorities.

In an exclusive interview with Asian News, Greater Manchester's new Chief Constable, Michael Todd, revealed ethnic minority officers and Asian or black members of the public could be recruited to test if officers are really implementing the force's anti-racism policy.

The 'shoppers' will be dressed in civilian clothes and asked to visit police stations to report imaginary racist crime. They will then observe the attitude of police officers and note what action they took. If officers are found wanting they will be carpeted.

Before he got the top police job in Greater Manchester Mr Todd was number two in the Metropolitan Police. He said the mystery shopper system had been used in London to find out if officers were only paying lip service to the anti-racism policies implemented after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry.

He said: "I and others had 'mystery shoppers', We were quite open about it. We wanted to say to police officers: 'We want you to have an open mind we want to take you along with us'. But we also used to say: 'If you don't move you might find yourself targeted in an integrity test'."

He revealed he would be discussing the mystery shopper policy in Greater Manchester with senior officers and the Police Federation. If it is implemented police officers would be told in general about the policy but they would not be told where or when the mystery shoppers would turn up.

He added: "Winning hearts and minds of police officers is of course important but if you still have people who are lazy it is crucial to make it clear that they will be held to account."