THE RACE GAP: HOW CHILDREN VIEW THE POLICE
Children from ethnic minorities are less likely to have a positive view of their local force
FEWER than half of children from some ethnic minority groups feel positive about the police.
That’s according to alarming new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The data shows that just 49 per cent of mixed-race children and 48 per cent of black and black British children feel positive about their local force.
That figure falls even further - to 31 per cent - for a group including Chinese and other minority ethnicities, including Irish Traveller and Gypsy children.
Meanwhile, the data showed that 62 per cent of white children feel positive about local police. That’s the highest proportion of all ethnic groups surveyed, ahead of the 58 per cent of Asian or Asian British kids who felt the same.
Experts said the findings are “a concern” and that “more can be done”.
The children, aged 10 to 15, were also asked how far they agreed with the view that police treat everyone fairly - whatever their skin colour or religion.
While this saw a more positive response across all ethnic groups, there were still some significant variations.
Some 86 per cent of white children agreed that police treat everyone fairly regardless of skin colour or religion. That compares to 83 per cent of Asian and Asian British children, 75 per cent of mixed-race children, 65 per cent of black or black British children, and 56 per cent of children from other groups. A Home Office spokesperson said: “People across all communities want the police to fight crime while having confidence that their needs will be understood and respected.
“The police have made real improvements in diversity - there are a greater proportion of women and black and minority ethnic officers than ever before.
“The government is committed to doing everything it can to further reduce and eliminate race disparities through our continued reforms to policing, including better use of stop and search, increasing the diversity of our police workforce, and overhauling the police discipline and complaints processes, all of which will help to drive up confidence in policing across all communities.”
David Munro - equality, diversity and human rights lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners - said: “It is a concern that children from BAME backgrounds are less likely to feel positive about their local police than white children. “It is important to me that every police force is representative of the communities they serve as outlined in Policing Vision 2025. They need to engage and be accessible to everyone irrespective of their age, colour, culture or ethnicity. “Clearly more can be done and we must therefore make sure that progress in this area continues to keep all children safe from harm and ensure they feel supported and engaged for generations to come.”