Police chiefs have told forces to “become anti-racist” in a new report that claims black people are “criminalised” by the justice system.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) will issue an “update report” next week addressing racial bias across Britain’s police services.
The initiative follows Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 – and examines so-called “adultification bias” theory, which suggests black youths are wrongly “viewed as adults” when interacting with police.
It defines “adultification bias” as “a form of racial prejudice in which children of minority groups, particularly Black children, are viewed as being more mature or older than they really are”.
Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, chief executive of the College of Policing, has voiced his ‘unwavering’ commitment to the plans
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The NPCC is gathering evidence to review whether police officers display this bias towards witnesses, victims, and those who are stopped and searched.
The review forms part of the NPCC’s broader initiative to address alleged racial disparities in policing across England and Wales.
The report endorses “racial equity” – with Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, chief executive of the College of Policing, voicing his “unwavering” commitment to it.
Racial equity is described as requiring police to interact with “communities according to their specific needs, circumstances and experiences, with understanding that these will be racialised”.
“It does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘colour blind’ (racial equality),” the report states.
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The document also warns that “it is not enough” for police “to not be racist”.
But the language in it has poured further fuel on a long-running “two-tier justice” row – and has sparked further concerns that officers are being instructed to treat criminals differently based on ethnicity.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “If the rule of law means anything, it’s that everyone is equal before the law.
“These guidelines tear that to shreds by explicitly instructing officers to treat minorities differently.
“This will only add to the growing perception we have two-tier justice under Two-Tier Keir.”
The report also outlines plans for a new “maturity matrix” which will assess forces’ “progress in delivering anti-racism” – and will use 14 metrics to produce “league tables” of Britain’s most anti-racist forces.
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These metrics include black officers’ career progression, and whether forces carry out their policing according to “the needs of black people”.
“It is black communities’ experience of policing, not the views of the police, that will judge forces’ maturity,” the report states.
Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chairman of the NPCC, also acknowledges in the report that it focuses disproportionately “on black communities” instead of all ethnic minorities.
But he said this was necessary because of “the scale of trauma and distrust that generations of people from the black community feel towards the police”.
“People from black communities have the lowest levels of confidence in the police, are underrepresented in our workforce and are more likely to experience police powers such as stop and search or use of force,” Stephens added.
