§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there are in Coventry; how many are from ethnic minorities; and what measures there are to encourage more people into the police service. [20957]
§ Mr. DenhamI understand from the chief constable of West Midlands police that there are 830 police officers in Coventry and that 33 are from the ethnic minorities.
The Crime Fighting Fund was established to provide chief officers with resources to recruit 9,000 extra officers, over and above their previous recruitment plans for the three-year period from April 2000 to March 2003. West Midlands police has been allocated 523 Crime Fighting Fund recruits over the three years.
The first ever National Recruitment Campaign for the police service was launched in August last year to assist forces to meet their recruitment targets. By 25 November 2001 there had been more than 45,000 expressions of interest in joining the police service. 1,837 of these have been passed to West Midlands police for further action.