Police Now is a National Graduate Leadership Programme with established partnerships with 33 police forces in England and Wales. As such, they are uniquely positioned to tackle issues around racial inequality and help make the police of tomorrow more diverse and inclusive than it is today.

Challenge

Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are still woefully underrepresented within the police. As things stand, some 14% of the UK population identify as minority ethnic. But only 7.3% of officers come from minority ethnic backgrounds. That needs to change. And it needs to change from the ground up – by attracting more diverse recruits that better reflect the communities they serve.

To do that we needed to:

• Open a conversation with the wider community around the issues of diversity and racism within the police

• Build a sense of trust by acknowledging the current problems and accepting that much more needs to be done

• Voice a genuine desire at all levels within the police to change the situation for the better

• Engage and inspire potential candidates by highlighting how they could help to lead that change

Solution

Our solution centred around a simple, yet compelling 60-second film. A film that’s open and honest about the problems of the present, yet optimistic about the future. And that calls out to graduates to join Police Now and help Change the Story.

After launching the main film, we released a series of more in-depth interview films and rolled out a comprehensive on- and offline marketing strategy, as well as programmatic and social campaigns. We also worked closely with our PR agency to gain valuable coverage in the national press – The Sun even included a direct link to the main film.

All of which directed people to a campaign landing page with the main film, the interview films and insights into the programme and how to apply.