SDLP Policing Board member Mark H Durkan MLA has said having a police service representative of the public is not about a ‘craze of woke quotas’.
He was responding to comments from DUP Leader Gavin Robinson in an email to party members.
Said the Foyle MLA: “Whether Gavin Robinson likes it or not, it is not unrealistic to want to have a police service representative of the community it serves.
“In the North it is clear that the PSNI falls far short of that and the only way we will address it is by encouraging more people from a nationalist background, women and minority groups to consider a career in policing.
“The DUP leader’s comments continue an increasing trend of the party’s representatives adopting the language and tactics of Donald Trump.
“Whether to try and obfuscate an important issue like representative policing or to try and label MLAs as sectarian simply for asking questions about a lack of transparency around school funding, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad.
“It’s embarrassing to see politicians here desperately trying to shoehorn Trump-like rhetoric into our local politics.
“When we wonder why we struggle to establish a police service that reflects the diversity of our communities, one could look at the words and actions of many of Mr Robinson’s party colleagues over the years.
“Instead of trying to turn what is an important issue into a culture war flashpoint, he should show some leadership and get to grips with the issues preventing us from having a police service that is representative of society here.”
