Shock new figures have revealed ethnic minority applicants are being frozen out of careers as officers with Police Scotland.
The Press and Journal has learned that no Pakistani, Indian, Chinese, African or Caribbean candidates were accepted to divisions in the north and north-east in the last two years.
And black applicants were only half as likely to be successful as their white counterparts.
Police chiefs have now conceded their roster of officers in the region “does not reflect” the communities they have pledged to keep safe.
Since 2014, a total of 2,346 people have applied to join the force as an officer in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, the Highlands or Tayside.
Of those, 509 were successful – 21.7% of all applicants.
The majority of the hopefuls identified themselves as white and 22% of the 2,300 white candidates were given jobs.
But of the 28 African and Caribbean applicants, only three were successful – just 11%..
None of the 18 Asian applicants was successful and only one of the 40 Polish people who applied was appointed as an officer.
Now the chief of a leading equality campaign group has urged the force to work to redress the balance.
Jatin Haria, executive director of the Coalition of Racial Equality and Rights, said: “What organisations like the police need to do is analyse why this is happening.
“Until they look through the application forms and interview notes they cannot know.
“Either there is discrimination in play or they are not as good as white applicants. If that is the case, there are actions that can be taken including training and guidance.”
Mr Haria said that although it was too early to say “definitely” why the figures show a poor success rate for ethnic minority applicants, the outcome was “not equal”.
He added: “It’s about how serious they are.”
A Police Scotland spokeswoman conceded more had to be done to ensure the force reflected the diverse communities it protects in the north and north-east.
She said: “Police Scotland, like many other public sector organisations, recognises that our current workforce as a whole, does not fully reflect the communities we serve.
“Our strategic commitment includes an ongoing review and modernisation of our selection processes, which includes identifying and reducing any potential adverse impact for minority groups.”
She said the force had a dedicated team actively engaging with minority communities to promote Police Scotland as an “employer of choice”.
LGBT equality group Stonewall has made the police one of its “Top 100 Employers”.
The spokeswoman added: “Police Scotland would particularly welcome more applications from all underrepresented communities.”
