Minority recruitment to the police

A disproportionate number of applicants from minority backgrounds tend to drop out during the police application process.

We used an insight known as values affirmation to discourage applicants from minority backgrounds dropping out during the application process.

Doing a values affirmation exercise involves encouraging individuals to reflect on the values that are most personally meaningful to them and how they incorporate these values into their lives.

We modified an existing email communication to ask applicants to reflect on why they would be a good addition to the police and what it would mean to their community.

The intervention had positive effects for minority applicants but, interestingly, had no effect on applicants from majority backgrounds.