Police Officers Will Be Able To 'Out' Themselves

UNITED KINGDOM - Gay and lesbian police officers will be asked to 'out' themselves in a move towards increasing the numbers of gay officers, it was revealed today.
A new report, backed by Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, suggests officers should anonymously declare their sexual orientation in order to assess if the Metropolitan Police is representative of the wider population.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Authority, who will hear the report tomorrow (Thurs), said the idea was expected to "get the nod".
The report, entitled 'Monitoring for Equality' states: "Data on sexual orientation is not currently held on MetHR (Met Human Resources) and therefore no meaningful analysis can be undertaken.
"To address this, a self-service facility will be available on MetHR in July which will enable staff to self-disclose their sexual orientation. This field will be blocked to ensure that no line managers or HR staff have access to this information."
The Gay Police Association welcomed the move but said the Met were finally "catching up" with other police forces.
GPA national co-ordinator Vic Codling said officers declaring voluntarily and anonymously if they were gay was piloted in 2004 but the Met refused to adopt it.
He said: "I am pleased the Met have finally caught up!
"This follows a national initiative launched last year jointly by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the GPA.
"The two concluded that if the force excluded the opportunity for gay people to identify themselves then it was institutionally homophobic.
"The Met refused in 2004 and the pilot went ahead without them in Leicestershire, Lancashire and Bedfordshire.
"It was successful and in June 2005 it was approved by ACPO and the Home Office. It was mentioned in a speech by the Home Secretary in June 2005.
"Now it has been adopted by a large number of forces including Avon and Somerset, Thames Valley, Essex, Devon and even Lothian Borders!"
Explaining the pilot's success he said: "Currently police services monitor gender and ethnicity, and this shows they value that work force. They recruit in the gay press but they don't count them afterwards.
"An inclusive monitoring system allows the individual to identify themselves as they may wish to do - long gone are the days when gay people were in the closet. If gay people are ok about themselves, everyone else should be.
"The important thing is, if they choose to, they should be able to identify themselves."
Asked whether the GPA would approve of quotas for gay people in the force he said: "It is not about quotas. That is not the GPA position. At the moment there is no quota in society because the census does not count sexual orientation."
Gay rights group Stonewall also welcomed the move saying: "A move to recognise that some staff are gay and lesbian is a positive thing. Why not monitor this too? As long as it remains voluntary it is a good thing.
"As for it leading to quotas, I think it is fair enough for the force to reflect the diversity of the people serving on it."
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