Low numbers of gay and lesbian police officers in West Midlands

Other forces reported higher levels, according to snapshot staffing figures obtained from police forces under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.

However, it is thought the true number is likely to be much higher due to some officers being reluctant to come out to their employers amid concerns about their sexuality creating a barrier to promotion, or resulting in homophobic abuse.

At Staffordshire Police, the data showed a total of 1,193 officers were recorded as heterosexual, equating to 95 per cent of the workforce where sexuality is recorded.

There are 39 gay/lesbian officers (3.1 per cent), 21 bisexual officers (1.7 per cent) and three who prefer to self-describe (0.2 per cent).

The figures for the West Midlands showed a total of 5,610 officers are recorded as heterosexual, equating to 93.4 per cent of the workforce where sexuality is recorded.

There are 263 gay/lesbian officers (4.4 per cent), 126 bisexual officers (2.1 per cent) and 10 who are recorded as "other" (0.2 per cent).

The data follows the damning conclusions of the inquest for the victims of serial killer Stephen Port, at which grieving family members and friends said prejudice, a lack of LGBT officers in Barking and Dagenham, and a failure to engage with the gay community at the time meant crucial clues about his murderous spree were missed.

Chief Inspector Lee Broadstock, co-chairman of the LGBT+ network representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans officers across the country, said: "If we're not representative of our communities then we don't understand that community.

"There needs to be an understanding of what the communities need to give people an equitable police service."

The percentage of officers in each force identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight was calculated only where constabularies had data for at least half of its officers.

This equated to 26 out of 40 forces which replied to FOI requests.

While heavily caveated, the data indicates wide discrepancies in the number of LGB officers in each police force.

The highest percentage of officers identifying as gay or lesbian, of the 26 forces with relevant information, was in Sussex (7.2 per cent), followed by Humberside (6.2 per cent) and Hertfordshire (5.8 per cent).

Conversely, the lowest percentage of gay and lesbian officers was in Lincolnshire (2.3 per cent), followed by Dyfed Powys and North Wales (both 2.9 per cent).

The figures showed Dyfed Powys and Suffolk had the lowest percentage of officers identifying as bisexual (0.8 per cent).

The highest rate was in Warwickshire (4.4 per cent).

Similarly, the highest rate of heterosexual officers was in Dyfed-Powys and Lincolnshire (both 96.2 per cent), followed by Gloucestershire (95.5 per cent) and South Wales (95.4 per cent).

The lowest rate was in Sussex (89.1 per cent) and Warwickshire (90.2 per cent).