Just eight per cent of West Midlands Police from minority backgrounds
Just 634 out of 7,249 West Midlands Police officers are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
The figure, 8.75 per cent, was revealed as Home Secretary Theresa May said the proportion of black and Asian officers across the country was 'not good enough'.
In Staffordshire, the figure is just 2.2 per cent, or around 40 people out of 1,829 officers.
West Mercia had two per cent of police from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds, or around 47 out of 2,367 officers.
But recruiting more West Midlands Police officers from minority backgrounds will be tougher due to funding cuts, according to the next chief constable.
West Midlands Police deputy chief constable Dave Thompson, who takes on the top job next year, said the number of officers from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds in West Midlands Police does not reflect the communities they serve.
People from BME communities make up 12.75 per cent of police staff, 21.4 per cent specials and 12.2 per cent PCSOs in the West Midlands.
The most recent figures on the ethnicity of police officers in the UK were compiled by the Office for National Statistics in 2013.
DCC Thompson described the figures as 'not reflective', but said that 'good strides' were being made to increase the number of officers from minority backgrounds.
"Our current recruitment cohorts are around 14 per cent, while the latest batch looks like it will be around 30 per cent," he added.
But DCC Thompson, who will succeed retiring chief constable Chris Sims, warned that 'limited recruitment' in the future would make it difficult to bring about change.
In a speech to members of the National Black Police Association in Birmingham, Mrs May said 'diversity profiles' covering England and Wales showed no force has a BME representation reflecting its local population.
Four forces have no black officers, she said – although two of the forces in question, Durham Constabulary and Dyfed-Powys Police, have disputed the figures.
"They reveal a hard truth – that no force has BME representation that matches its local demographic," May said.
