Race Matters
Help us shape how people of Black, ethnic, or minority backgrounds experience policing.
Black, ethnic, or minority backgrounds face long-standing challenges and disparities interacting with police. To help us understand those, we follow recommendations in the:
- National Police Race Action Plan
- Identifying disproportionality in the Avon and Somerset criminal justice system (PDF)
In response to those reports, we commit to:
- reducing disproportionality in the criminal justice system
- increasing trust and confidence in the police
We aim to do this by focusing on our use of stop and search and our HR, recruitment and retention practises. This enables us to deliver an outstanding, anti-racist policing for all our communities.
How you can get involved
Community oversight
The independent community scrutiny and oversight board ensures we deliver our Race Matters work with the voices of people from Black, ethnic, or minority backgrounds at its core.
If you want to be involved in this work or receive regular updates, register your interest in Race Matters.
Independent Advisory Groups (IAG)
Our IAGs and Young Persons’ IAGs are forums for community representatives to work with us on local issues. Find out about IAGs and how to become a member.
Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT)
Our NPTs build relationships with community groups and leaders in their area.
They attend local events, visit schools and youth groups to support in the prevention, detection and resolution of crime and anti-social behaviour.
To get in touch with your local policing team, type your address into the Your Area section of our website.
How we will improve the diversity of our workforce
Understanding our workforce’s experiences
Survey responses about the wellbeing of police officers and staff of Black heritage will help shape policies and training to ensure the appropriate guidance and support is available.
Outreach team
Our outreach team encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for jobs with the police, mentor them through the recruitment process and provide support to increase their prospects within the service.
Training
Training packages support the workforce’s understanding of Black history and its relevance to policing.
Positive action programme
The programme supports new applicants with protected characteristics in their recruitment journey and promotion boards to ensure we have better representation at higher ranks.
Find out more about our commitment to increasing diversity in our workforce.
How we will be fair and reduce disproportionality using our powers
Stop and Search
All officers receive training on how to conduct fair and respectful stop searches. The use of body-worn video is mandatory during stop searches and footage is reviewed to identify learning.
Every person who is stopped and searched is entitled to a receipt of that transaction. Development of a new receipt will make it easier for them to provide feedback.
Children and young people
We support young people to:
- help them understand their rights in stop and search
- demonstrate what a good stop and search should look like
We work with youth groups and community representatives to ensure young people’s voices are heard.
We are reviewing our processes and use of the power on young people from Black, ethnic, or minority backgrounds as they are affected the most.
Recording use of Section 163 of the Road Traffic Act
Officers use this to pull vehicles over and ask them to stop. We now record all stops under this power, including the ethnicity of the driver and any passengers, so we can address any disproportionality.
Trauma-informed practice
Multi-agency training gives officers insight into the traumas felt by people from Black, ethnic, or minority communities to ensure fairer, more sensitive policing.
Use of force refresher training
Annual refresher training helps us to reflect on learning about how using force can affect our communities, especially those from Black, ethnic, or minority backgrounds.
Use of force training for new officers
Training will focus on working effectively in culturally diverse situations and the impact of our actions.
Out-of-court disposals
We aim to decrease the disproportionality of people from Black, ethnic, or minority backgrounds getting an out-of-court disposal, or deferred prosecution, and reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system.
Lived experience advisors
These individuals will support the reviewing of complaints by people from diverse backgrounds, bringing different perspectives.
How we will protect and seek justice
We want to be a police service that protects people from a Black, ethnic, or minority backgrounds from crime, and seeks justice for them.
Victim service standard
We are exploring ways to bring fairness to the way victims are treated and redress the difference in the way people of Black heritage experience crime and report it to us.
Hate crime
Building a network of hate crime champions, developing officers’ skills, and using lived experience advisors helps us better understand the impact of hate crime in communities and for our staff.
How we work with other agencies and our communities
A multi-agency steering committee ensures the partner agencies making up the local criminal justice board work together to reduce disproportionality and become anti-racist.
Children and young people
Violence Reduction Partnership sees partner agencies work together to support young people within the force area who are most at risk of criminal exploitation and harm.
Police Early Intervention Teams work alongside the Violence Reduction Partnership, NPTs, and local schools to educate young people on different crime types, build relationships and divert them from crime.
The Crime Prevention Through Sport Fund aims to support projects using sport and physical activity to reduce violence, crime and anti-social behaviour. We work with community organisations to deliver those projects.
Behind the Badge
Workshops, together with a number of different youth engagement organisations, allow police officers with different backgrounds to engage with young people in the community, talking through their lived and professional experiences.
Cultural Awareness workshops
Officers and staff visit different religious settings to get an understanding of the cultures in their force area. The sessions help to build relationships between different communities and the police.
How we are making progress
Read our quarterly progress reports on our work to date:
You can make a difference
If you want to be involved in this work or receive regular updates, you can register your interest here.