British police mascot 'too white, too male'

[Ambiorix]

November 20, 2007 08:35pm
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22795897-13762,00.html

LONDON'S Metropolitan Police has been forced to spend £15,000 ($34,855.35) creating "ethnically diverse" mascots after complaints about a model deemed too white and too male.

Met chief Sir Ian Blair ordered the new politically correct (PC) models after an Asian officer complained about Police Community Support Officer(PCSO) Steve, the mascot produced to visit schools to promote the police force.

Specifically, critics said the fact that Steve was white, with blue eyes and blond hair, risked leaving Asian and women officers "isolated", said The Daily Telegraph.

Blair, in a written response to the London Assembly, said the Met's diversity unit would be tasked with creating new models.

"These characters will be more representative of London's population and the diverse range of police personnel," he said.

"The choice of characters will allow the concept of a Safer Neighbourhoods team to be presented to young children as well as delivering an important message about the different roles of PCSOs and constables."

Some believe the decision smacks of political correctness gone too far.

"We seem to be taking the issue to the extreme. We need to take a sensible approach to this," said Pc Geoff Parker in a letter to the Met's in-house magazine The Job.

The project has been renamed "Police Pals," and the new models will be ready early next year. One features a woman PCSO, named Sunita, said the newspaper.