All new officers must attend gay lecture

Every new police officer in the West Midlands has to attend a one-and-a-half hour lecture on how to avoid discriminating against gay colleagues and members of the public, it was revealed today.

Around 1,400 gay or lesbian people work for West Midlands Police, according to the force's gay support group, making up a 10th of its workforce. The service yesterday revealed that it had been ranked 28th out of 100 of the country's leading employers by the gay rights group Stonewall.

Today, Pc Jim Field-Evans, a 30-year veteran of the force and chairman of the West Midlands Police Rainbow Network, the force's gay and lesbian support group, told the Express & Star that every new recruit spends 90 minutes in a lecture theatre learning how they can appropriately deal with crimes against or committed by homosexuals.

The 48-year-old, who is open about his own sexuality, said: "This year saw a record number of companies taking part, almost 400 companies fought for places this year in an index which Stonewall made sure was tougher than ever before.

"Where we receive a call from someone reporting a homophobic hate crime, we think it is vital that any officer, gay or straight, be able to respond appropriately. Each officer who responds to such a call for the first time will receive the right guidance.

"They know that it is fine to ask someone reporting such a crime about their sexuality. "When new members of staff join, they get me for an hour and a half in the lecture theatre. The most important thing I try to get across is that if they are in doubt, they should ask.

"We have also regularly attended gay pride events both in the West Midlands and in Manchester.

"Until recently the Rainbow Network had a big red bus that we used at recruitment events to let gay people come and talk to us. Now we use the mobile police stations. People did not believe you could be gay in the police but we have proven that you can."

Pc Field-Evans first walked the beat in Handsworth and Ladywood in Birmingham aand came out to his colleagues in the 1990s.

He said: "It is very different now."