Question
What is your response to the data showing people from BAME backgrounds were disproportionately fined and stopped and searched?
Answer
The Police Service understand the concerns that have arisen in relation to the issue of Fixed Penalty Notices for breaches of the Coronavirus Health Protection Regulations during the Black Lives Matter events in the summer of 2020.
The most up to date figures relating to the period 30 March 2020 and 31 December 2020, indicate that, overall, 3.2% of Covid-related enforcements (fines) have been issued to people from BAME backgrounds. Further detail is provided in the below table:
Ethnicity | Number | Percent |
WHITE | 2,702 | 72.2% |
IRISH TRAVELLER | 9 | 0.2% |
INDIAN | 5 | 0.1% |
PAKISTANI | 2 | 0.1% |
OTHER ASIAN | 3 | 0.1% |
BLACK AFRICAN | 22 | 0.6% |
BLACK OTHER | 30 | 0.8% |
CHINESE | 4 | 0.1% |
OTHER ETHNIC GROUP | 22 | 0.6% |
MIXED | 7 | 0.2% |
ROMA | 15 | 0.4% |
NOT RECORDED | 922 | 24.6% |
TOTAL | 3,743 | 100.0% |
It should be noted that PSNI rely on recipients of Covid Penalty Notices providing ethnicity voluntarily. It is also the case that this data may be affected by information regarding the recipient’s ethnicity recorded on police systems. This is possible if the person's information is recorded from a separate incident both prior to, or after the incident where a penalty notice has been issued
Dedicated engagement with members of the Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups has been ongoing since June 2020, led by Community Safety Department. This has been informed by learning and perspectives derived from the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s Thematic Review of the Policing Response to COVID 19 and the Police Ombudsman’s report on the Policy and Practice of Policing Protests.
Initial work of the recently established Community Relations Taskforce has specifically focused on this issue. ‘Mutual Gain’, an independent specialist community engagement organisation, with a proven track record in London and Greater Manchester, has been commissioned to mediate and create a pathway to rebuilding trust. The first of a series of three sessions has already taken place and outside this framework, police have also reached out and listened to a wide range of voices, including the organiser of one of the Protests. This learning and perspective informs our approach to engagement at a strategic and operational level.
Fundamentally, we seek to increase our understanding and develop stronger networks with diverse communities and community groups. Co-design with and participation by community representatives, critical friends and academic partners will inform our policing style and approach.
In the near future, it is planned for T/Assistant ACC Singleton to report to the Policing Board’s Partnership Committee with an update on the formal way forward for the Community Relations Taskforce. This work will continue to be a priority area of focus in the coming year and I look forward to updating the Board on progress on a regular basis throughout 2021.
Statistics indicate that during the 12 month period, January 2020 to December 2020, 4.1% of all persons stopped and searched/questioned were from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
The below table provides stop and search figures for the period January 2020 to December 2020.
Number of persons stopped and searched/questioned under all legislative powers during January 2020 to December 2020, by ethnicity (1)
| Persons stopped and searched/questioned | Proportion of persons stopped and searched/questioned |
White | 23,995 | 95.2% |
Irish Traveller (1) | 391 | 1.6% |
Chinese or Other | 309 | 1.2% |
Black (3) | 138 | 0.5% |
Mixed | 98 | 0.4% |
Asian | 90 | 0.4% |
Not specified | 174 | 0.7% |
Total | 25,195 | 100.0% |
- Ethnicity may be officer perceived. A degree of undercounting may exist for the Irish Traveller category as some Irish Travellers are likely to be categorised as White.
- Includes Black African, Black Caribbean and Black Other.
A stop and search strategy has been developed which contains short, medium and long term objectives. The strategy aims to achieve improvements in the monitoring and of the use of stop and search powers to ensure that officers are always behaving fairly and properly. As part of this strategy, we are directly engaging (via survey) with young people for feedback on how stop and search powers are used. Identified actions under the strategy include:
- The development of a new stop and search service instruction
- The development of internal intranet information pages which provide guidance and instruction regarding stop and search
- Service wide unconscious bias training (Initial and refresher training)
- Community background monitoring in relation to the use of certain stop and search powers
John Blair - Alliance