Statutory Duty Information Report 2020/2021

Essex Police is committed to diversity, inclusion, and dignity for everyone we serve and employ, treating everyone with fairness, equality, and respect.

The communities of Essex are evolving and changing, and we want to grow and evolve with them by listening and responding to actual, rather than assumed, needs.

Understanding the needs of the people that live or work in Essex, and the needs of those that visit Essex helps us prevent crime, keep people safe and catch criminals.

Working in collaboration with our partners, our force is better able to recognise the varying needs of victims, witnesses, and individuals across the county.

This report is part of Essex Police’s response to the Equality Act 2010. It is intended to offer data on the equality impact of Essex Police’s employment practices and activities.

The Equality Act creates a public sector Equality Duty to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act. In other words, to consider how different people will be affected by our activities.
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. We want to deliver services which, while efficient and effective, are accessible to all and meet everyone's needs.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Fulfil our requirements to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people (both employees, volunteers and others) who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

Protected characteristics covered by the Equality Duty are:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
  Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

Data presented represents a snapshot of Essex Police as of 31 March 2021. In compliance to the specific duty regulations, Essex Police:

• Publish equality objectives every four years.
• Publish information annually to demonstrate compliance with the general Equality Duty.
• Publish information relating to our employees and others affected by our policies and practices (such as provide services to communities).

The specific duties require public bodies to prepare and publish one or more specific and measurable equality objective which will help to further the three aims of the Equality Duty.

We incorporate equality into our core business, create equal opportunities and develop good working relationships between different people.

We are transparent about how we respond to the Equality Duty, as required by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011.

Essex Police has set clear equality objectives in our Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Strategy 2020-2025, to further the aims of the Equality Duty. During the period of this report (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) the equality objectives were:

1. Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce, that better reflects our communities, to improve confidence in Essex Police.
2. Narrow the disparity between protected groups and non-protected groups in respect of the use of police powers such as stops, searches and the use of force. Improve the experience of policing services without reducing the legitimate use of police powers to protect communities.
3. Increase satisfaction & confidence amongst protected groups, wider communities, and victims of crime. Tackle hate crime and address any complaints and concerns raised.
4. Adopt and advance the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2025 and accompanying toolkit.
5. Improve inclusive culture through delivery of mandatory training, equality data analysis, equality and health impact assessment, and effective community engagement.

View the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy.

The strategy was launched in November 2020 and was developed in consultation with key stakeholders and staff support associations to develop and monitor activity and document actions to enable Essex Police to make progress against the agreed equality objectives.

Please note that any events reported in this document either took place prior to Covid-19, virtually, or in line with government guidelines.

Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce, that better reflects our communities, to improve confidence in Essex Police.

In September 2020, Essex Police launched a new officer recruitment campaign, ‘We Value Difference’ to attract more diversity into the force. Unlike other police recruitment campaigns.

‘We Value Difference’ tackles diversity and inclusion in its entirety. It shows that regardless of our sexuality, age, personality, or height, it is our values which define us and that these values are what policing is most interested in.

Marketing activity contained inclusive imagery in all marketing materials used, including images from student pass out parades, colleagues commendations and stories of individual journeys and good policing work to attract those from more diverse groups.

Activity included:

• Development of new recruitment packs distributed to our workforce.
• Articles and advertisements published in various publications.
• Social Media posts to promotes International Women’s Day and profiles of existing staff and officers with an aim to gain more female applicants.
• ‘We Value Difference’ animated paid social media campaign.
• A campaign to encourage those having left the organisation in recent years to re-join.

This list is not exhaustive and is provided to give a top-level view of the work undertaken to encourage people from all backgrounds to consider and then apply for a role in policing. 

The media campaign was incredibly successful in attracting more diverse applicants and the Essex Police Media and Communications Team have embarked on further activity such as advertising on targeted social media sites and radio/TV channels specifically aimed at diverse audiences.

Within the first 2 months of campaign launch, the number of applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic applicants doubled compared to previous recruitment campaigns, rising from 56 in the months of September and October 2019 up to 135 in the same month of 2020.

Over the same period, applications from non-British people (for example those of central European or Irish backgrounds) also increased, from 54 in September and October 2019 to 102 during the same two months in 2020. Again, over the same period, applications from women rose from 254 in September and October 2019 to 330 in September and October 2020.

In June 2020, a new Diversity & Inclusion Manager was appointed who was pivotal in the development of the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and its launch across the force.

July 2020 saw Essex Police implement a Positive Action Team. The aim of the Positive Action Team is to attract and recruit diverse applicants into policing and provide support to retain diverse skills and support development throughout their careers.

A Positive Action Programme was developed to support candidates applying for the role of police officer. The programme included a pre-application video and eligibility video to ensure wider reach of under-represented groups who are less familiar with the process of joining.

Pre-online assessment and senior interview workshops were held to support candidates from ethnic minority groups. For those not successful at any stage of the application process, ‘Review and support’ sessions were carried out at application stage, online assessment and senior interview. The Force already had 43 trained active buddies for ethnic minority candidates and in April 2020 we launched the LGBTQ+ Buddy Scheme with 6 buddies initially trained.

Throughout the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Positive Action recruitment initiatives continued virtually. Despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, Corporate Recruitment, Business Services, Human Resources Innovation, Vetting and Occupational Health continued to process suitable candidates through the recruitment stages.

This was conducted using policy decisions and adapting processes to utilise technology to undertake some stages virtually, such as the senior officer interview.

Throughout the year, the Positive Action Team provided support locally and engaged with the support networks to attract those who may not usually consider pursuing promotion from under-represented groups.

They held virtual engagement events and drop-in sessions for registration
of exams and proactive encouragement locally around entering the promotion process.

Throughout 2020/21 there was an increase in the proportion of officers, staff, PCSOs and Specials declaring protected characteristics. This has therefore resulted in an increase in the overall representation across several the protected characteristics.

The below identifies the key increases:

• Increase in female representation across all employee groups
• Increase in the proportion of ethnic minority officers, staff, and specials
• Increase in the proportion of officers, staff and PCSOs with a religion.
• Increase in the proportion of officers, staff and PCSOs who have declared that they are bisexual, gay, or lesbian.
• Increase in the proportion of officers, staff and PCSOs who have declared that they have a disability.

The Positive Action Team attended the Strategic Independent Advisory Group (SIAG) to identify any engagement or outreach opportunities across all communities in the county.

The Team have further attended all local Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) boards for each Command during the reporting period to promote the Positive Action agenda and link in with key community events that have been identified through local commands.

Each command is provided with a DEI data breakdown to support them in understanding the diversity in their teams, ensuring support is provided where appropriate.

The support networks attend the local DEI boards where possible to offer further support on a local level.

Through extensive outreach during promotion processes, Essex Police attracted external candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply for all roles being advertised.

In January 2021 Essex Police ran a promotion process for the rank of sergeant.

An external attraction event was held to attract diverse talented candidates to our force. There were three officers from ethnic minority backgrounds who applied for promotion, all being successful (5.2% of the total applicants were ethnic minority).

An impressive 81.5% of all females who entered the sergeants promotion process were successful. 

In January and February 2021, Essex Police supported four Home Office discovery events held to attract applicants into policing from ethnic minority and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+) groups as well as women and those with neurodiverse conditions.

The Positive Action Team held 2 additional virtual discovery events in March for females and people from ethnic minority backgrounds for those who had considered a career in policing but wanted to learn more from officers within the service.

As a result of our ‘We Value Difference’ recruitment campaign and outreach programme, Essex Police are making good progress at recruiting more officers who identify as ethnic minority.

Financial year 2020/21 has seen 9.42% of all new recruits self-declare as ethnic minority. This is compared to a 3-year average of 4.6%.

For the 2020/21 financial year (1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021) Essex Police appointed 308 police officers (including transferees and re-joiners), of which 31 identified as ethnic minority. This is similar in terms of headcount when compared to the number of ethnic minority joiners in 2019/20 (31) but as a proportion of total joiners it represents an increase of 2.75 percentage points (6.67% of the total 465 joiners were ethnic minority in 2019/20).

With regards to leavers, for the 2020/21 financial year (1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021) 3.59% of total police officer leavers were ethnic minority. This was a result of 6 resignations and 1 retirement. When measured as a proportion of total leavers this represents an increase when compared to 2019/20 (2.42%) however it is a headcount increase of just 1.

With regards to promotions, for the 2020/21 financial year (1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021), 4.08% of police officer promotions (including those transferring into Essex on promotion), were achieved by ethnic minority officers throughout the rank structure.

A total of 4.62% of promotions were at the rank of Sergeant and 25.00% at the rank of Chief Superintendent.

The highest rank of an ethnic minority officer as at the 31st March 2021 was a Chief Superintendent which is an increase from the 31st March 2020 where the highest rank was a Chief Inspector.

In January 2021 there were two events for the Firearms department, including a bespoke event for female officers only. The event created an opportunity to remove stereotypes and offer attendees the opportunity to speak with other female firearms officers, to explain the process in more detail, offer advice on passing any future courses and the reality of being a Firearms Officer in Essex.

From March 2021, the Positive Action Team commenced inputs to the new recruits during their first week at Essex Police College covering Diversity and Inclusion, the aims, and objectives of the team and how they can support individuals and provided information about the many internal support networks
available to assist our workforce.

Narrow the disparity between protected groups and non-protected groups in respect of the use of police powers such as stops, searches and the use of force.

Improve the experience of policing services without reducing the legitimate use of police powers to protect communities.

An Equality Diversity Inclusion & Cohesion (EDIC) task and finish working group commenced in September 2020 to address a range of areas relating to disproportionality, chaired by a Chief Officer.

The purpose of the EDIC is to understand, address and where necessary set actions to assist with reducing disproportionality in Essex Police, initially with a focus on stop and search.

The group is made up of senior leaders, Operational police colleagues with key representatives from members of the public, local IAGs and young people. The group use data and activity produced for the forces ‘Use of Force Board’.

There are three key strands of work which the EDIC group is overseeing:

• Creation of an Engagement Action Plan - Utilising the IAG network and other community groups to identify the best way to talk to communities about the impact of disproportionality.
• Training for officers - Focusing on the quality of an interaction and the closure of any stop and search activity, especially when the search is negative, maximising the opportunity to ensure the interaction was constructive.
• Exploring the use of technology to offer opportunities for feedback – Providing the person that has been stopped an easy way to provide feedback on the quality of the interaction.

Essex Police comprises of several areas of Command. Operational command areas provided training for officers throughout the reporting period to improve knowledge, develop best practice and improve interactions during stop and search with a view to improving legality and legitimacy.

Commands have also presented stop & search data at their respective Independent Advisory Group (IAG) meetings for scrutiny and comment. The West Local Policing Area (LPA) are quality assessing victim contact through monitoring body worn video, dip checking and follow up calls by Command leaders.

The Crime and Public Protection Command continued to engage with partners in respect of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). ‘Operation Limelight’ days of action were carried out in school holiday periods at Stansted Airport to raise awareness, gather intelligence and act as a preventative measure in relation to FGM.

This operation included Border Force, an FGM charity, an FGM survivor and social workers from the UK and Sweden due to the links between girls being brought from Sweden to have FGM performed on them in the UK.

Thurrock ‘Challenge Panels’ started in February 2021, in support of structures already in place through local IAGs. The ‘Challenge Panels’ will engage with ethnic minority communities who are not represented at IAGs.

The panels will explore policing tactics in the local area and across the West LPA and help to bridge the gap between policing and local communities by scrutinising and explaining policing tactics.

Core membership consists of community leaders, faith leaders, minority champions, community representatives, and local business members.

Increase satisfaction & confidence amongst protected groups, wider communities and victims of crime. Tackle hate crime and address any complaints and concerns raised.

The Contact Management command introduced ‘Live chat’ in April 2020 as a viable platform, linked to the Force website, enabling online virtual contact with the Force Control Room (FCR).

This platform has delivered a direct messaging contact with FCR contact handling staff which is particularly helpful for people whose first language may not be English or who perhaps live with a neurodiverse disability making direct conversation difficult.

Live chat was promoted through online services and circulated through both social media and across community groups working with the Local Policing Support Unit (LPSU).

The West LPA introduced the ‘Epping Forest Civil Society Leaders’ in November 2020, to improve collaborative working between Essex Police and the Local Authority.

The LPA involved Citizens UK which is a larger movement that seeks to bring together civil society partners. Representation of the group includes headteachers, religious leaders and many other community representatives.

Essex Police joined with Basildon Council to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2021. The Chief Constable spoke at this event to show support and respect to the Jewish Community.

The South LPA carried out regular reviews of public complaints and outcomes to monitor levels focusing on incivility and impoliteness, and circulated summaries of learning to improve awareness and understanding.

Measures have been taken to improve the communications in the South LPA with the Haredi community, such as suggesting use of the “drop-box” as internet usage is not permitted at certain times.

Along with the local authority, a working group was established in November 2020 involving councillors, Essex Police, and representatives from the Haredi community.

Any issues, tensions, and opportunities for engagement were discussed. The Community Safety Engagement Officers (CSEOs) also featured in a Haredi publication in February 2021, encouraging positive engagement and awareness.

In the reporting period, the South LPA identified a number of victim’s champions; this included one Constable for each district, one Detective Constable, and one Detective Sergeant.

The Detective Sergeant would task and coordinate the activity of the champions. A monthly meeting was held to discuss emerging themes or issues arising from victim surveys.

In the meetings any planned training for officers and staff would be discussed, alongside any identified blockers to providing good victim care. The meeting was also used as an opportunity to discuss any changes in process or messages
that the champions could then convey to their colleagues.

Each month champions would complete seven victim surveys, which included questions about overall service, the quality of contact throughout the investigation, and any suggestions for improvement.

Where there was good practice identified, this would be included in bulletins disseminated across the workforce, in order that others could learn from best practice, as well as affording those concerned some positive recognition.

Adopt and advance the NPCC Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2025 and accompanying toolkit.

For a structured, evidence-based method to support this objective an online action tracker was created for each section and individual action for the NPCC DEI strategy toolkit.

Evidence of activity has been recorded in this period and is continuing to be recorded for each area in the Essex DEI action tracker using a traffic light system (red, amber, green) to highlight completion levels, areas of good practice, and monitor areas of risk.

This will provide a mechanism for Chief Officers and other organisations such as Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) or the College of Policing (CoP) to review.

There are 151 actions in the NPCC Online Action Tracker, and each action is assigned to one or more owners relevant to the request. Completion of the actions is key in demonstrating the progress Essex Police is making to support the DEI strategy and identifying areas of strength and areas of risk.

Capturing evidence-based data throughout the organisation will support progression in an ethical and auditable format to demonstrate best practice, better support for our employees and the communities that we serve.

The Essex Police Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy will have positive implications for workforce development, community relations, and legal compliance with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

As the majority of action owners are at senior level/heads of department, the NPCC DEI Strategy has been circulated amongst teams so the awareness is Force wide, through meetings, newsletters and at Continuous Professional Development (CPD) days.

Personal Development Review (PDR) objectives are used to reinforce relevant areas including training inputs and awareness of the strategy.

It has also been used to form local strategies within LPAs.

Improve inclusive culture through delivery of mandatory training, equality data analysis, equality and health impact assessment, and effective community engagement.

During this period our Learning and Development (L&D) and Diversity and Inclusion teams coordinated a significant project to commission an external DEI training package, which is mandatory for all officers, staff, and Special Constables.

Further details of the ‘Valuing Difference and Inclusion’ training commencing in July 2021 will be provided in future reports.

While the training was being devised, all departments continued with online training packages, and local development days.

All teams were tasked with completing the mandatory E-learning packages for ‘Unconscious Bias’ and ‘Disability in the Workplace’.

In November 2020, the Women's Leadership and Development Forum (WLDF) celebrated the 43 nominees and finalists in the British Association for Women in Policing (BAWP) awards.

The BAWP mission is to continue to ensure that women’s voices in policing are both heard and understood. The Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable were present to thank all at the virtual event.

The Crime and Public Protection command considered the concept of ‘Tell me what I don’t see’ to gain a deeper understanding of any barriers or challenges. In November 2020 the command, they circulated a questionnaire around succession planning (initiative used to support individuals for promotion processes and guide them through their own continued professional development), to identify barriers and understand why people may not consider promotion opportunities. As a result of the findings, workshops were set up to help officers taking their Sergeants promotion board.

A myth busting and hints and tips event for board preparation was held in December 2020, followed by mock boards in January 2021.

From November 2020, the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Team created a virtual recording to introduce all new student officers, and staff to the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy and all available networks.

The D&I team and ‘Disability and Carers Network’ held a virtual event in December 2020 to celebrate International Day of People with Disabilities – with the theme of ‘not all disabilities are visible’.

The event was opened by Chief Constable Harrington and the content of the session included:

• Members of the Force with non-visible disabilities, sharing their experiences and offering support and advice.
• The Disability and Carers Network Strategy for 2021 and development opportunities.
• Operational HR on workplace adjustments.

‘Let’s Talk Menopause’ Sessions – The Menopause Support Group held an event in January 2021 providing help, support and guidance to all officers, staff and volunteers dealing with or supporting those dealing with the menopause.

WLDF led on the creation and organisation of ‘Your Networks – Your Voice’ in January 2021; an all day event to support the launch of the DEI strategy and raise awareness of the role of the networks.

A variety of networks took part to provide 17 virtual sessions throughout the day delivering CPD and network information. 89 police staff, officers, specials and volunteers from Essex Police and other emergency services attended.

All sessions were available online for those who couldn’t attend the event. The Chief Constable and Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Nolan opened the event; the content included internal and external speakers covering:

• How to incorporate small steps to create a healthier lifestyle and improve your physical and mental health whilst working from home.
• Counselling & Wellbeing – Supporting our officers, staff, and volunteers.
• Networks and overview.
• Why the DEI Strategy is so important and the impact of discrimination.
• CPD opportunities.
• Adore Your Pelvic Floor – a menopause input.
• Top tips for exam revision.
• The National Decision Model (NDM).

The Diversity and Inclusion team held two training days for CSEOs in February and March 2021, which covered a Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Strategy Overview – community engagement, unconscious bias and impact of racial profiling and media opportunities.

The LGBTQ+ network hosted a virtual event in February 2021 with around 100 attendees to discuss and dispel myths around the LGBTQ+ community. The event was hosted by the executive board who spoke openly about myths relating to their sexuality or gender.

The WLDF Network held a virtual event on International Women’s Day in March 2021, in collaboration with Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and East of England Ambulance Service Trust.

The event was an opportunity to think about the progress made in relation to human rights and gender equality and the theme was ‘Choose to Challenge’. Content included:

• Impact and gravitas for women.
• Career development.
• Personal stories.
• Wellbeing.

All departments hold a local DEI board. Numerous departments have DEI Champions, SPOCs, and allies to effectively signpost employees to internal training, support network activity, external events and provide DEI Board updates.

Diversity data was provided by HR from the Organisational Management team at each local DEI board, and to the support networks, for departments to assess and identify issues or trends for those with protected characteristic.

How Essex Police perform is reported to the Office for Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) on a monthly and quarterly basis. This data includes information on Hate Crime offences at a force and district level.

This data can be found on the following link: Essex Police Performance - Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner.

The Police and Crime Commissioner also publishes quarterly reports on Essex Police conduct matters.

This data includes a breakdown of complaints by ethnicity group. This data can be found on the following link: Conduct & Professional Standards - Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner.

Each year Essex Police publish, separately to this report, an Equality Pay Gap report.

The 2021 report is due to be published in Spring 2022 on the Essex Police website: Gender pay gap

Each year Essex Police publish via the OPFCC website, a report which relates to the force’s attendance, strength full time equivalent (FTE), turnover and diversity profiles. 

Performance and Resources Scrutiny Programme 2021.