.

             If this is the case we must look more carefully at the British police to see whether this inequality is really present. There are three basic types of discrimination that can prevent the practice of equal opportunities; those are on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation.

             I. Race.

             Under–representation of ethnic officers within British policing has always been a critical problem, which the Home Office and chief police officers have acknowledged but miserably failed to address.

             .

             "It is recognised that the police force is seen by many as not offering equal opportunities to minority groups. It is for this reason an equal apportioned recruitment drive was launched in order to boost the number of police in the Metropolitan Police Force from the ethnic minorities at the same time as reducing the numbers of unemployed. The initiative is aimed at the jobless in Haringey who are to be offered a 10-week training course just to prepare for the Metropolitan Police entrance test requirements (Flanagan, 1996: 2).".

             There have been many studies that have indicated that there is discrimination in the police force leading to the compromising of equal opportunities, this was proven to be in existence concerning race when thirteen different police forces were studied (Flanagan, 1996).

             Equal opportunities can be seen to escalate in importance as the higher up a hierarchy we look, the more apparent it becomes. Through closer examination of the rank structure it can reflect the true nature of its hypocrisy and the way in which promotion prospects and ethnic recruitment will be affected.

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             This makes the case of Chief Inspector Martin Harding who was the most senior black officer in the Greater Manchester Police and went on to claim racial discrimination. He was claiming that his career was held back whilst four other white colleagues all received promotion. He qualified before these colleagues and had undergone the assessments for promotion in 1992, waiting for an opportunity ever since then, it was after this that there appeared to be discrimination due to his race (Marks, 1996).