Durham Constabulary’s response to the Baroness Casey Review
In line with the recommendations of the Baroness Casey Review, Durham Constabulary has carried out an audit of its culture and standards of behaviour, specifically with regard to ethnicity.
That review has now been completed (to read the full report, click here) and concluded that Durham Constabulary is not “institutionally racist” as defined by the Casey Review.
However, the review’s findings also included:
- While there are some people with racist attitudes within the organisation, they are low in number and the force works appropriately to root them out
- There are a number of data collection processes within the force which could reinforce racial bias.
Durham has a long history of confronting discrimination, going back to the Macpherson Report in 1999 but there is still significant ongoing work required to understand how we police and support ethnically diverse communities and how we further develop our workplace culture. Earlier this year, Durham Constabulary made a public commitment to being an anti-racist organisation.
Working towards being anti-racist, the force has:
- Appointed a Chief Officer as executive sponsor for the force staff support network, “Durham Constabulary’s Ethnic Minority Support Association”.
- Fully integrated the National Police Chiefs Council and College of Policing Police Race Action Plan with force Superintendents appointed to each of the workstreams to ensure strategic oversight and accountability to develop our progress in these areas.
- Appointed a Race Inclusion Inspector who has trained more than 800 staff to-date, on training linked to the Police Race Action Plan.
- Developed a Race Inclusion working group, which reports to a newly established Culture and Inclusion Board.
- Conducted an internal staff survey to identify any issues and themes to be addressed.
- Began work to refine our data collection systems.
There is more to do, but Durham Constabulary remains fully committed to driving out behaviours that do not meet the high standards of integrity the public expect and deserve while improving our service to all our diverse communities.