WEST Mercia Police has signed up to a groundbreaking strategy which aims to make policing more diverse and inclusive.

The strategy is aiming to build confidence with groups who historically have lower levels of trust in policing and aims to boost the number of officers from underrepresented groups.

At West Mercia Police, only 2.5 per cent of officers are from BAME backgrounds, compared with 3.8 per cent of the populations of Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

In addition, only 31 per cent of West Mercia Police officers are female.

The force been provided with a toolkit designed to help them attract and retain more people from underrepresented groups.

The toolkit is part of a broader strategy which addresses nine protected characteristics, including race, gender, religion and disability.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary will scrutinise West Mercia Police's progress against the strategy.

Nationally, the numbers of women and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) officers are at the highest levels since records began, but such groups are still underrepresented when compared to the general population and the communities they serve.

The toolkit makes a series of further recommendations to be considered by West Mercia's Chief Constable, some of which are already in place. These include: appointing chief officer leads and encouraging them to approach increasing diversity with the same level of commitment as critical incidents, collecting and analysing workforce data to understand how well the force is representing local demographics and using the information to assist with targeted recruitment, positive action measures such as proactively seeking out candidates from underrepresented groups, contacting officers and staff from underrepresented groups within two years of them leaving the organisation to encourage them to consider returning, and providing unconscious bias training to all recruitment and promotion panels.

The recommendations also suggest building better networks and improving coaching and reverse mentoring, increasing flexible working to take into account childcare commitments and religious or cultural events, reviewing promotion and lateral progression policies, including considering removing the need for line manager approval to remove the risk of unconscious bias in decision-making.

Anthony Bangham, chief constable of West Mercia Police, said: "Having a force that is more representative of the communities we serve is of vital importance for West Mercia Police.

"We need officers and staff who are able to respond quickly to the changing demographics of local communities, overcome language barriers and bring a deep knowledge of certain cultures. It is proven that more diverse teams make better decisions and innovate more."