Between 2004 and 2008, eight candidates were reportedly rejected by the now dissolved Strathclyde Police force because they had a form of red-green colour blindness usually found only in men.
However, the ban has now been reversed after a legal challenge was launched by one of those candidates. He had been rejected on the ground that he suffered from moderate colour-blindness despite having passed all of the other tests to begin training to become a police officer.
Lawyers on his behalf argued that as colour-blindness affects more men than women, the policy of banning colour-blind recruits amounted to indirect sex discrimination against men. They also argued a blanket ban was unlawful and recruits should instead be considered on a case-by-case basis, since there are different degrees of colour blindness.
Accepting that there is potential for colour blindness being an issue for officers if that means, for example, that they are unable to accurately describe a suspect’s clothing or identify a vehicle, his lawyers argued that such issues could be overcome by pairing colour-blind officers with officers who had full vision.
Police Scotland has indicated that previous candidates rejected on this basis will be advised of the change of policy and invited to re-apply.