Police Service of Northern Ireland: The changing face of the PSNI

Police Service of Northern Ireland: The changing face of the PSNI

This paper examines how advertising and a carefully planned strategic media placement increased the number of applications from people of an ethnic background to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The strategic solution was implemented through the use of tactical media placement which included advertising in press and online publications/sites, solely aimed at the Chinese, Indian and African communities. The campaign creative was also changed to visually show both a Chinese and an Indian officer in an active duty role. The campaign succeeded in increasing the number of applications from its target audience by 79% in a period of two years, and helped the PSNI in their aim to ensure that their Police Service is fully representative of the multi-cultural population of Northern Ireland