Police disclosing suspects' ethnicity is fuelling prejudice, say campaigners

"The police's decision to reveal the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in high-profile crimes has had a devastating effect and is helping to spread prejudice, racial justice campaigners say. The warning comes from the Runnymede Trust and 50 other groups demanding that the policy in England and Wales is scrapped, in a letter sent to the home secretary and police chiefs on Friday."

"The letter says: This guidance, which encourages police forces to disclose the ethnicity and nationality of suspects charged in high-profile cases, is having a devastating impact on our country, harming our communities The guidance was offered as an attempt to dispel misinformation In practice it has had the opposite effect, becoming a catalyst for crime reporting reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s reviving a focus on race and migration status."

"The policy change was decided in August by the College of Policing, which sets standards in policing, and the National Police Chiefs' Council. Far-right social media accounts had falsely claimed that the Southport attack in 2024 was committed by an asylum seeker, leading police to say the attacker was a British national. That fuelled largely far-right accusations of two-tier policing, namely that police were only releasing ethnicity and race details when suspects were not asylum seekers."

Police disclosure of suspects' ethnicity and nationality in high-profile crimes has increased references to 'asylum seeker' in serious-crime reporting fivefold after an August policy change. Campaigners contend that the practice gives the public a harmful impression that links criminality with ethnicity or migration status, feeding prejudice and damaging social cohesion. The policy was introduced by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs' Council. Far-right social media false claims about the Southport attack prompted a police clarification about the attacker's nationality, which then fuelled accusations of inconsistent disclosure. Campaigners demand the guidance be scrapped, arguing it prioritises suspect background over victims' experiences.

Read at www.theguardian.com