a day ago
Scrap ‘two-tier' anti-racism guidance for police, say Tories
Police chiefs' 'two tier' guidance that tells officers to treat black and white suspects differently must be scrapped, the Tories have said.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, has claimed the advice is 'morally indefensible' and would ' put the public at risk '.
He has written to Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, urging her to back a Tory amendment to her crime and policing Bill, which would give the Government powers to order the withdrawal or rewriting of the guidance.
The guidance declared police chiefs' commitment to 'racial equity' did not mean 'treating everyone the same or being colour blind'.
Instead, they called for 'equality of policing outcomes' for different ethnic groups 'by responding to individuals and communities according to their specific needs, circumstances and experiences'.
'Community trauma'
The report, setting out police chiefs' ' anti-racism commitment ', also stated officers must now 'consider cultural impact and community trauma when using their powers'.
A home office spokesman said: 'Every police officer in our country swears an oath to uphold the law with 'fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality', and there is no guidance from the National Police Chiefs' Council or anyone else which tells them to do anything different. In particular, it is categorically false that the police are told to apply the law differently to anyone based on their ethnicity.'
But Mr Philp said the implication of the guidance was that offences by ethnic minorities should in some cases be ignored.
'The document explicitly says the police should not treat everyone 'the same' or be 'colour blind'. This is itself racist and enshrines two-tier policing in practice. It is morally indefensible and will put the public at risk,' he said.
'The police anti-racism commitment also talks about the police 'criminalising' people. This is completely absurd. People criminalise themselves by committing crimes and the police should do everything in their power to bring criminals to justice.'
He said the Tory amendment to the crime and policing Bill would give the Home Secretary the power to amend or require the withdrawal of any code of practice issued by the College of Policing or any document issued by the National Police Chiefs' Council intended to direct policing practices.
In his letter, Mr Philp said: 'Please confirm that you will ask the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing to withdraw this racist and two-tier guidance and support our amendment to give you the power to override them if they refuse.'
'Without fear or favour'
It follows a two-tier justice row over the sentencing council where Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, intervened to change the law to overturn its guidelines that she said could have given preferential treatment to defendants from ethnic minorities.
When previously challenged over the police guidelines, Ms Cooper said the police already had to swear an oath to act impartially and use their powers 'without fear or favour'.
Gavin Stephens, the chairman of the NPCC, said the commitment would mean more effective policing.
'People from black communities have the lowest levels of confidence in the police, are under-represented in our workforce and are more likely to experience police powers such as stop and search or use of force,' he said.
'This historic and ongoing mistrust between the police and black communities risks, for example, people not reporting things to the police if they are in trouble or not aiding our efforts to catch criminals.
'Explaining or reforming race disparities and addressing mistrust with black communities will mean we are more effective at fighting crime and protecting all communities.'
