A HARD-hitting campaign aimed at getting more more black and Asian police officers on to the streets of Lancashire has been hailed a success.

The recruitment drive was launched in Blackburn six months ago and included a series of adverts.

Chief Constable Pauline Clare has identified race relations as a key issue as her force prepares to enter the next millennium. And as well as enlisting more recruits from the ethnic minorities, she is also aiming to change the attitudes of her officers.

The campaign, launched in the wake of the findings into the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, will run for three years. And a survey of Lancashire folk has been carried out to see if the message has hit its target audience. More than 600 Blackburn people, three quarters from ethnic communities, took part in the survey and the findings make encouraging reading for police chiefs. Most people interviewed had a positive attitude to the police and said they would like to see more officers on the beat.

Just under a half of 16 to 28-year-olds said they would consider a career in the police and only seven per cent said they would not join the force because they think the organisation is racist or biased.

The posters also met with an encouraging response from people from ethnic communities.

Figures released earlier this year revealed that in the first month of the campaign, 91 applications to join the police were from members of the ethnic minorities. The following month saw the number increased to 97.

Lancashire's Chief Constable Pauline Clare, was told by Home Secretary Jack Straw, to dramatically increase the number of recruits from ethnic minorities. The Blackburn MP set every constabulary in the country tough targets for the next decade as part of the ongoing shake-up.

Lancashire has 39 Asian and black officers out of a force of more than 3,000 and Mr Straw wants to see a dramatic improvement.

Recruitment and selection manager Thelma Aye, said: "It has been very interesting and encouraging to see that the campaign has achieved an exceptionally high level of recognition with all sections of the community.

"People appear to have understood the message we are trying to get across."

She added: "The campaign has also received a huge boost, thanks to the officers and staff of the division covering Blackburn. Their continued hard work with the community has complemented the positive messages of the recruitment campaign."

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