Concerns raised over police recruitment posters ‘feeding into gender stereotypes’

Concerns that some recruitment posters by Thames Valley Police are ‘feeding into gender stereotypes’ have been raised at a crime panel.

The force launched a six-week police officer recruitment campaign in August titled ‘It’s what we do’, sharing some experiences and the positive impact of police officers on communities through a ‘storytelling approach’.

Three posters were shared with the Police and Crime Panel during a report on Thames Valley Police’s communications strategy on Friday (November 7).

The first depicted a male officer holding a weapon under the title ‘Fight crime’; the second, titled ‘Build trust’, featured a smiling female officer with two young girls, and the third, titled ‘Serve victims’, illustrated another female officer speaking solemnly to a young girl.

At the meeting on Friday, Cllr Kate Gregory from South Oxfordshire District Council said she assumed more campaign material had been produced but raised questions about the marketing choices behind the content shown to the panel. 

Addressing the region’s police and crime commissioner, Matthew Barber, she said: “Why have we chosen a man with a gun and women with children? I think it's very much gender stereotyped."

Mr Barber said he 'takes her point' but this wasn’t the only campaign material and he was ‘less concerned’ about the images.

Thames Valley Police reported that the initial campaign outcomes were positive, with 468 applications received over the campaign period, of which 58.5 per cent were male and 41.5 per cent were female.

“You’re not concerned that you’re trying to attract men who are interested in carrying a gun and women who are only interested in looking after children?” said Cllr Gregory.

“You’re feeding into that stereotype as an organisation that has already got issues with regards to misogyny, do you not think that a campaign like this feeds into that?”

In response, Mr Barber said: “No, [if] that’s how you want to interpret that.”

"I look at the totality of images used by TVP in terms of those recruitment images and no, I’m not particularly concerned."

Mr Barber also asked whether using imagery of the ‘plenty’ of female firearms officers in the force would ‘overcome that problem’.

Cllr Gregory said it was a ‘concern’, adding: “I think it’s about balance, isn’t it? I hope that there are other materials.

“Fighting against those stereotypes, I think, is something whoever your agency is, should think about.”

Mr Barber referred to a different recruitment drive by Thames Valley Police for a 'role traditionally considered quite male-dominated' that ‘heavily’ used imagery of female detective constables.

He concluded by saying he didn’t ‘buy into’ the discourse of ‘perfectly’ balancing every image used in marketing campaigns.