Sussex Police welcomes plan to tackle racism and discrimination

The plan sets out how policing will work to address the discrimination, bias, and racism, which exists in police systems, policies and processes.

Deputy chief constable Julia Chapman said, “We fully commit to the national Plan of Action on Inclusion and Race and welcome publication of the plan today, marking the start of a national commitment to build an actively anti-racist police service which reflects and protects all communities.

“While much has been done by policing to address racism in the police and society, with policing now being more inclusive, more diverse, and more reflective of our communities than ever before, it is our view that policing does still contain racism, discrimination, and bias. Whether that’s in the behaviours of some officers and staff, or in the policies and procedures we operate.

“It’s important to understand that we are not characterising policing or saying all of our officers and staff are racist. Instead, we are saying that we recognise, alongside overt instances of racism which are unacceptable and must be tackled, that there are areas of policing where there is still a negative disproportionate impact on black people and therefore, we, as Sussex Police, commit to being a force which is anti-racist, will remove unconscious and conscious bias, and be one which people can trust, particularly those within the black community.”

The plan accepts steps to address racism in the police and in society have been made, change has not been fast or significant enough.

Superintendent Adam Hays, force champion for race and inclusion, said, “We have already taken steps as a force to address some of the disparities highlighted by the national plan as we recognise that without taking immediate steps to improve policies and procedures, public trust and confidence in policing is affected and our work to protect people from all backgrounds is less effective as a result.

“We aim to build on these steps taken so far, as it is not enough for us to say we are ‘not racist’, we must translate both the national plan and our local delivery plan into action and real tangible difference.”

More information on the Plan of Action here.

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