Anti-terror police 'need Muslims'

Monday, 17 November 2008 11:26

The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) in a survey conducted with Demos have found that Muslims are grossly under-represented in the UK police force particularly in counter terrorism units.

According to the figures compiled by NAMP and Demos, 0.6% of all police officers are Muslim. In contrast, the 2001 census puts the UK Muslim population at 3%, a figure that is widely accepted to have since grown.

The survey, in which half of all UK police forces took part, found that there are only 27 Muslim counter-terrorism officers out of a total of 2,300, and few Muslim officers overall in high ranks. The survey found that Muslims were present in larger numbers in the lower ranks of the force. The figures according to NAMP put Muslims in the respective ranks as:

Chief Superintendent: 0
Superintendent: 2
Chief Inspector: 7
Inspector: 23
Sergeant: 55
Police Constable: 444

NAMP said that progress on diversity in the police force was 'painfully slow' and that Muslim police officers were an invaluable asset to the work being done in counter terrorism units.

The report states:

"The terror threat is not limited to al-Qaeda, nor is it only Muslims that are capable of understanding Islamist terrorist activity.

"However, having officers with a cultural, religious or linguistic understanding of the individuals most likely to be involved in these groups could be an invaluable head start. This is a matter of priority."

An interview with Superintendent Dal Babu of the NAMP on BBC Radio 4's Today programme can be heard here.

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