Romano Vodi - Romany applicants fail to meet Czech police criteria-press - News
None of 7 Romanies who applied for jobs in the municipal police of the town of Most has met the required criteria and the police will therefore not have any Romanies in its ranks, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes writes in its north Bohemian edition today.

The Romany candidates who would have been sent for a six-month re-qualification course funded from European Union funds if admitted, did not even pass through the initial introductory interview, the paper says.

"A clean criminal record was the main demand and at least three of the applicants did not have it. Some of the Romanies even could not read or write in the Czech language properly. Their appearance and behaviour showed no signs of the ability to cope with the required amount of learning material, including legal rules and other demands," Lubos Trojna from the Most municipal police says.

The final statement from the police spokesman are particularly revealing. To expect Roma applicants to pass initial interviews where they are judged on appearance and behavior is setting the bar surprisingly high. No matter how 'enlightened' the interviewer, this is precisely the sort condition where any latent discriminatory tendencies (and they are usually less than latent in the Czech police) are most likely to assert themselves. Perhaps a better way would have been to provide a proper course to the applicants and then send them in front of the police.