Welcome to the NPCC website
Safety and victimisation
Our safety and victimisation workstream aims to deliver a police service that protects Black people from crime and seeks justice for Black victims. It deals with areas such as violence against women and girls, adultification bias and services for victims of crime.
National actions
Analysis across different crime types of the disproportionate impact these have on Black communities, supporting wider national activity to improve ethnicity recording. Further work is underway in collaboration with partners in the wider criminal justice system.
Plan contributing to wider review of hate crime, including non-crime hate incidents.
Major piece of work with force missing people leads and charities to map out recommendations and improvements for the response to Black missing people. You can read some key outputs from this work online, as well as on the Missing People website. This includes the charities’ final report about the experiences of Black missing children and their families.
Pilot project delivered of peer to peer conversations between Black executives and senior police officers.
Helping develop new custody scrutiny panels to examine disparity in police use of powers. Guidance for these panels is available online.
Working with national police leads for violence against women and girls, criminal justice, mental health and hate crime to shape the response to these crime types and address negative outcomes and experiences for Black communities.
Gathering evidence for a review of adultification bias, to ensure Black children are treated appropriately and not viewed as adults when they come into contact with the criminal justice system. Adultification bias can be understood as a form of racial prejudice in which children of minority groups, particularly Black children, are viewed as being more mature or older than they really are.
Below you will find further examples of local and national work ongoing across policing and the wider criminal justice system in this workstream to deliver an anti-racist police service.
We will continue to share promising practice and ideas we come across, as well as encouraging forces to submit their initiatives onto the College of Policing’s Practice Bank so these can undergo an evaluation process. For more information please contact the relevant force or email our team.
The Practice Bank is made up of shared interventions that have been implemented by crime reduction and community safety organisations, including policing. These have been used to address specific crime problems or organisational change.
Bedfordshire Police’s Be Heard initiative used listening circles to provide a safe environment for women and girls from seldom heard groups to talk about their lived experiences and inform the force’s approach.
Merseyside Police has developed a comprehensive strategy to implement Operation Hampshire, ensuring officers subject to hate crime and discrimination are properly supported.
The projects below have been developed by police forces and other agencies. While not formally endorsed by the plan, hopefully they encourage ideas and discussion among those looking to deliver the plan's objectives, as well as showing the breadth of activity happening in policing.
Avon and Somerset has developed its Chance to Change programme with local groups that support people in the criminal justice system, working with young people on a deferred prosecution programme to improve outcomes and reduce reoffending.
British Transport Police has developed the We Stand Together brand to encourage reporting on hate crime.
Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Venture is specifically looking at how trauma informed practice can be used in terms of reducing criminalisation, stop and search and youth crime.
The Metropolitan Police has piloted the child first custody training and research project. Its aim is to ensure children receive specialist support from police custody staff and specialist legal representation from the point of arrival at police stations.
Northamptonshire Police is utilising the Exodus programme to help the force safeguard young people at risk of serious violence. Exodus is a therapeutic approach co-designed by young people which aims to support those affected by or at risk of violence and exploitation
Nottinghamshire Police has launched a new scheme designed to provide a more inclusive service for young adults arriving at custody. Pastoral support volunteers have been introduced within the Nottingham Custody Suite for the first time to help break the cycle of criminality and stop reoffending. These volunteers will provide emotional support and advice to Black and dual heritage people, between the ages of 18 and 25, who arrive at custody after being arrested. This could be in the form of volunteers sharing their own life experiences or acting as positive role models, to encourage attendees to listen to police and access any potential support.
Surrey Police has developed a comprehensive hate crime strategy, including a dedicated scrutiny panel, risk assessment processes and specialist training.
Victim satisfaction for Black and Black heritage people continues to improve for West Yorkshire Police. The overall satisfaction rate for Black and Black heritage people is 69.7 per cent, which has increased by 7.5 per cent over the last 12 months. The victim satisfaction rate is the percentage by which victims are satisfied with their interaction with West Yorkshire Police.
The West Yorkshire force's neighbourhood policing teams have been delivering hate crime sessions to youth groups, to increase awareness and encourage reporting. It also ensures all victims of hate crime receive a follow up visit from a neighbourhood officer.
West Yorkshire has also delivered training for its domestic abuse and safeguarding teams on Valerie’s Law, which aims to improve support for Black women and girls who are victims of domestic abuse.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has published a briefing on adultification in a policing context, as part of its discrimination toolkit.
A national children and young persons policing strategy published in 2024 contains and explicit commitment for a police service that is anti-racist and actively identifies disparity in the policing of children and young people.
The Youth Justice Board has developed several resources around anti-racism and disproportionality, including products on adultification. A report by Revolving Doors commissioned by the board has identified promising local practice that is tackling racial disparity and overrepresentation in the youth justice system across England and Wales.