A police force has spent roughly £4.5 million of public money sending its entire workforce on a two-day training course about the slave trade — prompting one former officer to warn the public expects cash to be spent fighting crime, not “classroom lectures”. West Yorkshire Police is putting more than 10,000 officers and staff through mandatory cultural awareness training to become an “anti-racist organisation.”

The move is part of a wider Race Action Plan launched by the force. It also made headlines after temporarily halting white British candidates' applications to increase diversity in its recruitment process. Critics say the training is a costly distraction at a time when police resources are already stretched, and crime levels remain high. Rory Geoghegan, a former police officer and founder of the Public Safety Foundation, 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.”

He added: “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.”

The course content includes sessions on black culture, Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and what organisers describe as “policing’s history with black communities”.

Chief Constable John Robins has said the force is committed to changing its relationship with black communities.

He said: “I am sorry for the way policing has treated black people across West Yorkshire in the past, I truly am.

Chief Constable John Robins has said the force is committed to changing its relationship with black communities.

He said: “I am sorry for the way policing has treated black people across West Yorkshire in the past, I truly am.

“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.”

A West Yorkshire officer interviewed in a promotional video said the course had revealed gaps in his education.

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. 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.”

The officer said the training “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”.

Express.co.uk understands that the force is expecting all staff to complete the course, with an estimated cost of £4.5 billion based on the time taken away from frontline duties over the two-day period multiplied across the entire workforce of more than 13,500.