'Give black officers a fair deal'

Ken Livingstone has demanded urgent action to tackle discrimination against black officers in the Met.

The Mayor has called on the Metropolitan Police Authority to intervene amid claims that black staff are 12 times more likely than their white counterparts to be involved in Employment Tribunal proceedings against Scotland Yard.

He says a string of large-scale investigations involving black officers have damaged the Met's standing in minority communities and have hampered recruitment.

Mr Livingstone's demand emerged today as Gurpal Virdi, the Sikh sergeant wrongly sacked for sending racist hate mail, returned to the force and a new job at Scotland Yard. Mr Virdi, 43, was suspended four years ago but was reinstated after proving his innocence at an Employment Tribunal. His high-profile case was settled last month when the Met agreed to pay £90,000 in compensation.

In a letter sent to MPA chairman Toby Harris, the Mayor said: "I am deeply concerned about the disproportionate number of employment tribunal cases that have been brought by black staff. These large-scale investigations into black staff have a considerable impact on London's black communities. We cannot expect them to come forward and join a service that is a dozen times more likely to investigate black officers than their white colleagues."

Citing specific cases, including that of Inspector Leroy Logan, a black officer wrongly accused of fiddling his expenses, the Mayor calls on the Met and the MPA to "draw a line" under the investigations and to work much more closely with the Black Police Association to review internal grievance procedures.

Ravi Chand, the National Black Police Association President, said the Mayor's letter, which was also sent to Commissioner Sir John Stevens, followed a meeting with BPA officials. "I am glad Ken has listened to us and told Toby Harris to pull his finger out," said Mr Chand. He said of 200 tribunal cases pending nationwide, about 70 involve the Met.

But Mr Harris said action was being taken. "I think we need to analyse the reasons why so many cases go to tribunals. We need to look at recruitment but also retentions and promotions."