Key Takeaways
- The police’s decision to reveal the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in high-profile crimes has been criticized for spreading prejudice and harming communities.
- Research shows that the policy has led to a significant increase in the use of descriptors such as "asylum seeker" in crime reporting, perpetuating a false and harmful impression that links ethnicity or migration status with criminality.
- The policy has been opposed by over 50 groups, including Amnesty International UK, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, and the Muslim Council of Britain, who are calling for it to be scrapped.
- The College of Policing has defended the policy, stating that it is necessary to release accurate and timely information to prevent the spread of misinformation and to alleviate community tension.
Introduction to the Policy
The police’s decision to reveal the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in high-profile crimes has been met with widespread criticism from racial justice campaigners. The Runnymede Trust and over 50 other groups have written a letter to the home secretary and police chiefs, demanding that the policy be scrapped. They argue that the policy has had a "devastating effect" and is helping to spread prejudice, further tearing at the fabric of society. The groups claim that the public is being given a harmful impression that falsely links criminality with ethnicity or migration status, with no credible academic evidence to support this perception.
The Impact of the Policy
The research conducted by the groups shows that the policy has led to a significant increase in the use of descriptors such as "asylum seeker" in crime reporting. For example, the term "asylum seeker" appeared in articles on serious crime five times more often after the policy change than before. This has perpetuated a false and harmful impression that links ethnicity or migration status with criminality, which is extremely dangerous and may encourage the public to perceive ethnicity and migration status as significant factors in the commission of crime. The groups argue that the policy is having a devastating impact on communities, harming them and fostering a dangerous and misleading conflation between race, migration, and criminality.
The Background to the Policy
The policy change was introduced in August by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, in an attempt to dispel misinformation and prevent the spread of false claims on social media. However, the groups argue that the policy has had the opposite effect, becoming a catalyst for crime reporting reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s, which focused on race and migration status. The policy was introduced in response to false claims on social media that the Southport attack in 2024 was committed by an asylum seeker, which led to accusations of two-tier policing. The police responded by saying that the attacker was a British national, which fuelled further accusations of only releasing ethnicity and race details when suspects were not asylum seekers.
The Response from the College of Policing
The College of Policing has defended the policy, stating that it is necessary to release accurate and timely information to prevent the spread of misinformation and to alleviate community tension. A spokesperson said that the police are operating in a challenging environment where there is a requirement for the release of accurate and timely information to prevent a vacuum and the spread of mis- and disinformation. The current interim guidance says that information confirming the nationality or ethnicity of someone can be released if it is part of a high-profile or sensitive investigation where there is a policing purpose for doing so, such as a risk to public safety or significant media or social media interest.
The Opposition to the Policy
The call to scrap the policy is supported by over 50 groups, including Amnesty International UK, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, and the Muslim Council of Britain. The groups argue that the policy is perpetuating a false and harmful impression that links ethnicity or migration status with criminality, which is extremely dangerous and may encourage the public to perceive ethnicity and migration status as significant factors in the commission of crime. The director of the Runnymede Trust, Shabna Begum, said that other more relevant details, such as the number of weapons used in an attack, are not being revealed, and that the ethnicity and race of the suspects are being given undue prominence. The British Transport Police (BTP) has defended its decision to release the ethnicity and nationality of two suspects arrested in a mass stabbing on a train, saying that it was necessary to alleviate the spread of damaging misinformation and speculation. However, the groups argue that this approach is perpetuating a harmful and misleading narrative that links ethnicity or migration status with criminality.