What is Positive Action?

Positive Action is a range of measures and initiatives that we can lawfully take to actively encourage people from communities that are under-represented to bring their talent, experiences and expertise to our organisation when applying to join us.

When applying to join us, our selection processes are no different. Through the use of Positive Action, we do not seek to remove competition, rather, to allow everyone the same level of opportunity where final selection for a post is always made on the merit of the applicant.

We aim to build our workforce so that it reflects the rich diversity and complexities of our communities by attracting the best talent from the widest pool of people.

We use the term ‘under-represented’ to describe where the diversity of the communities we serve is not accurately reflected in our workforce and are proud to have a policy where we utilise Positive Action to help us achieve this.

Is it the same as Positive Discrimination?

In a word, no. The two are very different and are very often confused.

Positive Discrimination means employing someone just because they come from an under-represented group giving an unfair advantage and is unlawful.

Positive Action is a lawful activity to ensure there is fairness to all that apply where everyone has a ‘level playing field’ from the start.

Our under-representation

UK legislation enabled Positive Action initiatives and activities to take place, where an under-represented group is identified around issues of Gender, Disability, Race, Age, Sexual Orientation and Religion or Belief. This is not a legal requirement but there are provisions that have been made available within the Equality Act 2010 for positive action to take place.

Devon & Cornwall Police and Dorset Police are under-represented by:

• Women (in police constable, detective constable and special constable roles)*

• People who are Black, Asian or of ethnic heritage

• People with disabilities or neurodiversity

*We are not generally under-represented by women in police staff roles and therefore cannot offer support to women in relation to police staff roles unless they fall within one of the other under-represented groups. Occasionally there are exceptions to this where under-representation is identified within a specific team or department.   

How we can help

Our dedicated Positive Action Team are able to offer support in various ways, such as:

• Online support programmes

• Guidance for role profiles

• Interview preparation

• Addressing barriers

• 1-2-1 support

To access support you must be eligible and you will need to register with us which you can do further down the page.

To keep in touch with us, find out more about what we are up to and where we are in our community, visit our X (Twitter) page below!

Follow @PolicePosAction

If you are not sure whether you are eligible for positive action support or if you require any assistance with your registration please email us:

Email the Positive Action Team

What happens after you register for positive action support?

You will receive an email inviting you to book a telephone or Teams appointment with one of the team. This is so that we can find out a bit more about you and discuss a support plan with you.  The appointment will take up to 30 mins.

We appreciate that our available appointments may not be convenient for everyone so please get in touch if you need an appointment time that works better for you.