Occupational colour vision requirements for police officers

Inclusion of public service professions in the UK Disability Discrimination Act in 2004 prompted a review of occupational colour vision requirements for police officers. Changes in the regulations which existed prior to 2003 were proposed. The aim of this study was to obtain the views of serving police officers in Northern Ireland on the importance of good colour discrimination in everyday police work and on the recruitment regulations for patrol constables introduced in 2003 in mainland UK. These views were obtained by means of a questionnaire and informal discussions. More than 65% of police officers who responded to the questionnaire considered that good colour vision was very important for effective policing. Fewer than 2% considered that colour vision was unimportant. Experienced police officers agreed that the employment of colour-deficient patrol constables, as permitted in the new regulations, would lead to reduced efficiency and organisational difficulties at the local level. A number of everyday activities were described which showed the need for accurate colour discrimination. The change in recruitment policy and the lack of clarity in the new regulations show inadequate appreciation of the needs of the occupation, of different types of colour vision anomalies and of the diagnostic function of colour vision tests. Failure to provide guidance on appropriate colour vision tests, examination procedures and counselling services is likely to result in inconsistent employment policies in different police forces. It is recommended that the colour vision standard in place prior to 2003 is reinstated at the recruitment stage. The Ishihara test should be used for screening, and colour-deficient applicants further examined with the Farnsworth D15 test as a replacement for the City University Test 2nd edition.