A police force which blocked recruiting white candidates has spent £4.5million teaching its employees about the slave trade in a bid to become "anti-racist".
More than 10,000 staff at West Yorkshire Police are to complete a two-day-long cultural awareness training course to educate themselves about black culture.
Officers will also learn about the police's relationship with black communities throughout history as part of the force's Police Race Action Plan to encourage black people to trust the unit.
One of the officers who went on the course said that "one of the most surprising" elements of the training days was "learning about Britain's history, particularly with the slave trade and western Africa".
More than 10,000 staff at West Yorkshire Police are to complete a two-day-long cultural awareness training
WYP
He said: "It was something that I have not learnt about through my education and now having some exposure to it, I’m really keen to learn more about it.
"But I do find it really surprising that we haven’t been taught about that, as it’s such a big part of the history of the UK.
"That in itself really highlights some of the issues that now exist between institutions like the police and lots of other institutions within the UK and our communities that we police, for instance, the black communities."
The course has been criticised for its cost - which is estimated to be around £4.5m.
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Ex-policeman and founder of Public Safety Foundation Rory Geoghegan told The Telegraph: "At a time when residents across West Yorkshire are facing yet another rise in council tax, the public expects every pound to be spent in support of crime-fighting and bringing offenders to justice – not on classroom lectures to learn about the slave trade.
"It’s concerning that, despite thousands of assaults on West Yorkshire officers each year – hundreds resulting in injuries – and over 35,000 sick days taken last year due to stress and mental health, the force chose to devote over 20,000 days to this ‘cultural awareness’ training rather than investing that time in strengthening officer safety and improving the health and productivity of crime fighting officers and staff."
WYP has come under public scrutiny after it was revealed that the same force blocked white candidates from being recruited as hiring officers favoured those from ethnic minorities.
Spearheading the campaign to make his force "anti-racist", WYP's Chief Constable John Robins said: "I am sorry for the way policing has treated black people across West Yorkshire in the past, I truly am.
Robins has regularly pushed for the law to be changed to favour ethnic minorities in West Yorkshire Police recruitment
"I cannot change the past, but I can change the future. I want us to become an anti-racist organisation. That is what the Police Race Action Plan is about."
Robins has regularly pushed for the law to be changed to favour ethnic minorities in West Yorkshire Police recruitment - urging other forces to follow suit across the country.
Positive discrimination, which gives certain candidates from specific groups preferential treatment over others, is not currently legal across England and Wales.
The police force's current policy has sparked concerns that white British candidates are being unfairly treated, potentially amounting to a form of positive discrimination which might be unlawful.
GB News has approached WYP for comment.
