Statutory Duty Information Quarterly Report April to June 2022

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.

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. 

Data presented represents a snapshot of Essex Police as of 30 June 2022. 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).

Essex Police Equality Objectives

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.

This report looks at how well our organisation reflects our communities, how we are perceived by the public, and how we respond and deal with crime. The report reflects the five areas within the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategy.

• Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce that better reflects our communities to improve confidence in Essex Police.
• Narrow the disparity between protected 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.
• Increase satisfaction and confidence amongst protected groups, wider communities, and victims of crime. Tackle hate crime and address any complaints and concerns raised.
• Adopt and advance the NPCC Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2025 and accompanying toolkits.
• Improve inclusive culture and increase awareness and understanding of diversity and equality through delivery of mandatory training, equality data analysis, equality and health impact assessment, and effective community engagement.

The below tables detail the performance metrics identified in relation to each of the objectives, along with the direction of travel, i.e., the trend.  Please note that some metrics – such as those in relation to officer numbers (rather than proportions) – are still in the process of being built.

Objective: Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce

Indicators		% Sep 2021	% Sep 2022	% pt. Difference	Direction of Travel
Increase the number of Ethnic Minority officers and staff to be more reflective of the economically active population in Essex
% of Total Work Force	Ethnic Minority	4.3	4.2	-0.1	Deteriorating
	White	93.9	93.8	-0.1
	Declined to state	1.9	2.0	0.2
% of Police	Ethnic Minority	4.0	4.0	0.0	Stable
	White	93.8	93.7	-0.1
	Declined to state	2.2	2.3	0.1
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	Ethnic Minority	4.4	4.3	0.0	Stable
	White	94.0	93.8	-0.2
	Declined to state	1.6	1.8	0.2
% of PCSO	Ethnic Minority	1.0	1.0	0.0	Stable
	White	96.1	96.1	0.0
	Declined to state	2.9	2.9	0.0
% of Specials	Ethnic Minority	6.2	5.3	-0.9	Deteriorating
	White	93.6	94.7	1.1
	Declined to state	0.2	0.0	-0.2
Increase the proportion colleagues in specialist roles and leadership positions
% of Chief Officers	Ethnic Minority	0.0	0.0	0.0	Stable
% of Chief Superintendents	Ethnic Minority	11.1	15.4	4.3	Improving
% of Superintendents	Ethnic Minority	3.7	6.9	3.2	Improving
%of Chief Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	2.1	4.3	2.2	Improving
% of Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	2.0	2.7	0.6	Improving
% of Sergeants	Ethnic Minority	2.2	2.6	0.4	Improving
% of Constables	Ethnic Minority	4.0	4.3	0.4	Improving
% of Student Constables	Ethnic Minority	8.9	3.2	-5.7	Deteriorating
% of Chief Officers	Female	33.3	20.0	-13.3	Deteriorating
% of Chief Superintendents	Female	22.2	23.1	0.9	Improving
% of Superintendents	Female	29.6	24.1	-5.5	Deteriorating
%of Chief Inspectors	Female	21.3	26.1	4.8	Improving
% of Inspectors	Female	26.5	30.7	4.1	Improving
% of Sergeants	Female	27.7	27.6	0.0	Improving
% of Constables	Female	36.5	37.4	0.9	Improving
% of Student Constables	Female	42.7	45.8	3.2	Improving

Objective: Narrow the disparity

Indicators - per 1,000 population (where ethnicity recorded)		Q2 2021/22	Q1 2022/23	Difference	Direction of Travel
Understand, explain and reduce the disparity in use of force and stop and search between White and Ethnic Minority people
Use of Force incidents	Ethnic Minority	6.0	7.2	1.2	Deteriorating
	White	2.8	2.7
Stop and Searches	Ethnic Minority	3.7	3.3	-0.4	Improving
	White	1.4	1.5

Objective: Increase satisfaction and confidence

Indicators			% 12 months to Sep 2021	% 12 months to Sep 2022	% pt. Difference	Direction of Travel
Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minority people in the service they will receive from Essex Police as measured by the independent force survey
• Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?
% Good/Excellent		Ethnic Minority	82.0	77.0	-5.0	Deteriorating
		White	81.4	76.4	-5.0	Deteriorating
• How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	61.6	61.8	0.2	Improving
		White	62.1	53.6	-8.5	Deteriorating
• If you were to report a crime or incident in the future, how confident are you that you would receive a good service?
% Very/Fairly Confident		Ethnic Minority	78.5	73.9	-4.6	Deteriorating
		White	78.3	70.4	-7.9	Deteriorating
Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minority people working to increase the number of those who feel they would be treated fairly if they made a complaint, as   measured by the independent force survey
• If you were to make a complaint to Essex Police about an officer or staff member, do you think you would be treated fairly?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	68.0	63.2	-4.8	Deteriorating
		White	82.9	69.7	-13.2	Deteriorating
• Please say how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am confident that the police use their stop and search power fairly and respectfully?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	69.6	60.3	-9.3	Deteriorating
		White	80.6	63.8	-16.8	Deteriorating

Activity:

‘We Value Difference’ is a continuous recruitment narrative which runs throughout the course of the year. It has been active in some form since the launch of the first official campaign in September 2020. Since the second phase of the campaign was launched in January 2022, we have continued to align the narrative to our different recruitment strands.

Police Officers

We continued with our approved recruitment marketing channel plan to reach and encourage people from all backgrounds to join as officers. For April, May, and June we received 451 applications, 46 from Ethnic Minority backgrounds (10%) and 167 females (37%). Main advertising tactics were:

• Google ads
• Facebook sponsored ads
• ITV Hub
• Online Display
• Retargeted marketing
• Spotify ads
• YouTube ads

Publications

We continued to explore specialist diverse publications and events to promote ‘We Value Difference’. We advertised during the India cricket tests on Lyca Radio in London throughout May and June and we continued to tell the stories of our diverse colleagues in new and interesting ways. A recent example of this is PS Anokhi Chouhan on BBC Bitesize, to encourage the next generation of police officers to join.

Force Control Room

A recruitment campaign called ‘Would you know what to do’ was launched in May to recruit more call handlers into the Force Control Room (FCR). The campaign consisted of a press release and web article, social media campaign, radio advert, and sponsored Facebook and Instagram posts. Content included new branded designs bespoke to FCR and several case studies of call handlers from a range of backgrounds were used to show how we value difference.

On average FCR were receiving 11 applications a week (April). From May 26 (campaign launch) to end of June, we received more than 4,200 website views to the call handler page and 209 applications. Our campaign reached more than 36,200 people across social media.

Pride

To mark national Pride month the Chief Constable and several members of the LGBTQ+ network raised the flag at HQ, which was promoted internally and externally.

For the month of June, 20 out of 155 total applications identified as Bisexual or Gay/Lesbian, which was 13% of total applicants. This was an increase to the month before which was 9%.

A case study of staff member was used to show how we are a force that values difference, and a Facebook advert to our web stories and campaign generated 335 link clicks and reached nearly 50,000 people in Essex. The comments received both internally and externally were positive.

The Positive Action Team (PAT) have held many events to attract people from underrepresented groups into policing and then support the retention and progression of those already within the organisation.

The PAT have attended 15 outreach events across the county to promote various careers and entry routes into policing. Events have included attending the Festival of Diversity, a 2-day community event in Colchester hosted by the Mayor. They have presented to the Muslim Sister Circle in Tendring and attended a Southend United football match to promote recruitment and educate attendees on Hate Crime offences.

Key in this reporting period was hosting a 2-week virtual ‘Positive Action Roadshow’. This event engaged with over 2000 young people, providing inputs including ‘Have your say on policing’, ‘Choices and consequences’ and ‘Careers in policing’. The PAT also held virtual workshops to support candidates through their application process to be a police officer. The Force also offers a buddy scheme for applicants who wish to receive bespoke one-to-one support through the entire recruitment process. There currently 138 active buddies with 89 candidates currently receiving one-to-one support.

Throughout the year the PAT provided support internally and engaged with support networks to attract those who may not consider pursuing career development or promotion opportunities. The PAT held 4 focus groups for underrepresented groups to understand the barriers to progression, held virtual drop-in sessions for exam support and workshops on how to prepare for a promotion interview process. 

To support the retention of officers and staff a new ‘Exit Process’ providing a new inclusive and supportive process has been developed and launched in June 2022. The process has several steps starting when someone is thinking of leaving the organisation, holding support intervention meetings, through to holding an exit interview and the completion of an exit questionnaire. This ensures we retain skills where possible and those who do leave, do so with dignity and professionalism ensuring any trends or learning is understood and acted upon.

Increase the number of Ethnic Minority officers and staff to be more reflective of the economically active population in Essex.

The below table illustrates the percentage of ethnic minority personnel within the workforce compared to the same period the previous year. The current economically active population who identify as ethnic minority is 6.56%. 

Ethnic Minority employees				Black or Black British
	30/06/2021	30/06/2022	% change	30/06/2022
% of Total Work Force	4.2	4.2	0.0	0.52
% of Officers	3.9	4.0	0.2	0.36
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	4.4	4.3	0.0	0.77
% of PCSO	0.9	0.9	0.0	0.94
% of Specials	6.7	6.0	-0.6	0.46

• There has been a slight increase (0.006%) in the proportion of Ethnic Minority employees (officers, staff, PCSO’s and Special Constables) in June 2022 (276) compared to June 2021 (275); this equates to 1 additional employee. Additionally, 441 applications as at 27th June 2022, in the recruitment pipeline with 32 Ethnic Minority applicants (7.26%) and 190 female applicants (43.08%).
• The proportion of Ethnic Minority Police Officers (as a percentage of all officers) increased slightly by 0.2% in June 2022 (4.1%) compared to June 2021 (3.9%).
• In this reporting period Essex Police has recruited 78 officers. 4 officers were from ethnic minority backgrounds (4.88%) and 30 were female (36.59%).
• In the same period 69 officers have left Essex Police. 22 were female (31.88%) and 8 ethnic minority officers (11.59%). Reasons include retirements, transfer to others forces and resignations.

Increase the proportion of Ethnic Minorities and female colleagues in specialist roles and leadership positions.

Ethnic Minority employees							Black or Black British
	30/06/2021		30/06/2022		Difference		30/06/2022
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
% of Chief Superintendents	1	11.11	2	15.38	1	4.27	0	0.00
% of Superintendents	1	3.70	1	3.33	0	-0.37	1	0.03
% of Chief Inspectors	1	2.22	2	4.35	1	2.13	1	0.03
% of Inspectors	3	2.34	2	1.52	-1	-0.83	0	0.00
% of Sergeants	10	2.11	14	2.85	4	0.73	1	0.03
% of Constables	100	3.80	115	4.26	15	0.46	9	0.25
% of Student Constables	20	10.31	12	4.98	-8	-5.33	2	0.05
Force	136	3.87	148	4.05	12	0.18	14	0.38

• There is now at least one officer from an Ethnic Minority in every rank in Essex Police other than within the Chief Officer team.  Recent promotion processes at both Superintendent and Inspector rank have seen ethnic minority applicants be successful (1 external Superintendent and 2 internal Inspectors). It is also pleasing to see an increase in representation at the rank of Sergeant. This has been achieved through promotion processes during the period June 2021 to June 2022.
• The percentage of Ethnic Minority Student Constables decreased to 4.98% in June 2022 compared to 10.3% in June 2021. This is often due to the Student Constable completing their probationary period and moving into the ‘Constable’ category.  

Female employees							Black or Black British
	30/06/2021		30/06/2022		Difference		30/06/2022
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	3	50.00	1	20.00	-2	-30.00	0	0.00
% of Chief Superintendents	1	11.11	3	23.08	2	11.97	0	0.00
% of Superintendents	9	33.33	7	23.33	-2	-10.00	1	0.08
% of Chief Inspectors	10	22.22	11	23.91	1	1.69	0	0.00
% of Inspectors	34	26.56	36	27.27	2	0.71	0	0.00
% of Sergeants	130	27.48	140	28.46	10	0.97	1	0.08
% of Constables	951	36.13	1003	37.16	52	1.03	0	0.00
% of Student Constables	79	40.72	112	46.47	33	5.75	0	0.00
Force	1,217	34.63	1,313	35.89	96	1.26	2	0.15

• The number of female employees has increased by two in the Chief Superintendent rank but has decreased by two in both the Chief Officer and Superintendent ranks in June 2022 compared to June 2021. This has occurred due to two females achieving promotion from Superintendent to the rank of Chief Superintendent. The two Chief Officers have also successfully achieved promotion with other Forces. Recent promotion processes at both Superintendent and Inspector rank have seen female applicants be successful (1 internal Superintendent and 14 internal Inspectors)
• The percentage of Female Student Constables increased by 5.8% in June 2022 compared to June 2021.

To support the aim of increasing the number of ethnic minority officers and females in leadership roles, Essex Police have in this reporting period, held two promotion process. During all promotion processes, the PAT complete extensive outreach through national support networks, to attract external candidates from diverse backgrounds. In May 2022 the Superintendents promotion process had 18 candidates (4 external) of which 10 were successful. Of the 10, 1 was female and 1 ethnic minority officer (external).

Also in May 2022 the Inspectors promotion process was held. 50 candidates entered the process of which 31 were successful. 2 of those were from ethnic minority backgrounds and 14 were female.

Improve the confidence of officers and staff to self-declare sexual orientation, disability, and religion to better understand and reflect the diversity of the Force.

Raising awareness of the support networks and in promoting inclusivity has resulted in an improved completion rate for many of the protected characteristics. The following table details declaration of protected characteristics across the workforce. This is important for the force to understand the diverse make-up of the organisation, and its work towards our strategic aim of being representative of the communities we serve.

Diversity Category - Gender: Female

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	1313	35.89% ↑	35.83%	34.53%	31.95%	31.69%
Staff	1530	65.86% ↑	65.63%	65.20%	64.35%	63.48%
PCSOs	69	65.09% ↑	63.11%	58.18%	54.46%	60.17%
Specials	146	33.80% ↓	34.19%	32.45%	30.21%	28.49%

Diversity Category - Self Declared Gender: Prefer to Self Describe

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	4	0.11% ↑	0.05%	0.09%	-	-
Staff	4	0.17% →	0.17%	0.09%	-	-
PCSOs	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	-	-
Specials	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	-	-

Diversity Category - Religion: Declared a Religion

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	818	22.36% →	22.36%	21.52%	15.98%	13.55%
Staff	673	28.97% ↑	28.86%	27.70%	20.82%	18.56%
PCSOs	24	22.64% ↑	22.33%	24.55%	21.78%	15.68%
Specials	128	29.63% ↓	30.97%	28.65%	23.89%	12.63%

Diversity Category - Ethnicity: Ethnic Minorities

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	148	4.05% ↓	4.17%	3.72%	2.17%	2.07%
Staff	101	4.35% ↓	4.48%	4.45%	3.50%	2.97%
PCSOs	1	0.94% ↓	0.97%	0.91%	0.99%	2.12%
Specials	26	6.02% ↓	6.02%	6.64%	4.92%	3.49%

Diversity Category - Sexuality: Bisexual/Gay/Lesbian

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	184	5.03% ↑	4.75%	3.98%	2.14%	1.54%
Staff	81	3.49% ↑	3.42%	2.91%	1.52%	1.19%
PCSOs	3	2.83% ↓	2.91%	3.64%	2.97%	2.97%
Specials	16	3.70% ↓	4.52%	3.98%	4.45%	2.42%

Diversity Category - Disability: Yes

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	215	5.88% ↑	5.49%	4.90%	4.08%	3.92%
Staff	210	9.04% ↑	8.97%	7.95%	6.77%	6.73%
PCSOs	12	11.32% ↑	8.74%	8.18%	4.95%	5.08%
Specials	4	0.93% ↑	0.86%	0.19%	0.94%	0.00%

Diversity Category - Nationality: Declared Nationalities Excluding British

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	49	1.34% ↑	1.18%	1.03%	0.53%	0.44%
Staff	39	1.68% ↓	1.71%	1.71%	1.29%	1.14%
PCSOs	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Specials	12	2.78% ↓	3.01%	3.98%	2.81%	1.88%

Diversity Category - Marital Status: Married or Civil Partnership

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/06/2022	% as at 30/06/2022 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	1230	33.62% ↓	34.02%	36.59%	47.47%	55.52%
Staff	916	39.43% ↓	39.62%	40.44%	44.86%	51.66%
PCSOs	52	49.06% ↓	51.46%	53.64%	60.40%	54.66%
Specials	39	9.03% ↑	8.60%	7.97%	13.35%	22.85%

• There was an increase in the percentages of officers and staff who stated their sexual orientation - officers 5.03%, staff by 3.49%.
• There was an increase in the percentage of officers and staff who declared a religion – officers 22.36%, staff 28.97%.
• There was an increase in the percentages of employees who declared a disability – officers 5.88%, staff 9.04%, and PCSOs 11.32% and Specials 0.93%.

Understand, explain, and reduce the disparity in use of force and stop and search between White and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people.

Essex Police introduced an Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Cohesion (EDIC) task and finish group 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 with reducing disproportionality in Essex with a focus on stop and search and use of force. The group is made up of senior leaders, operational police colleagues and 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’.

To ensure legitimacy and transparency around the use of police powers, a Body Worn Video (BWV) Review Panel has convened to review clips of officers using stop and search powers in Essex. The panel consists of a diverse membership with representation from the Black, Jewish, and Transgender communities. Attendance is monitored to ensure the membership is fully representative of the community. The panel operates a feedback process to individual officers, not only to ensure officers are learning from each search conducted but also to highlight best practice and recognising officers who use their powers fairly, effectively, and respectfully to leave a positive impression on those subject to the search.

The panel have adopted a Procedural Justice Framework survey to provide feedback for the BWV clips viewed. The outcomes of each panel are reported to the Use of Force Bord, EDIC Stop and Search Board and the Learning the Lessons Board to ensure learning is shared.

Use of Force[1]

Use of Force per 1000 population							Ratio to White
	White	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Chinese or Other Ethnic Group	Total Other than White	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Chinese or Other Ethnic Group	Total Other than White
Force	2.81	1.66	2.72	14.82	9.86	6.42	0.59	0.97	5.27	3.51	2.28

The above table shows a breakdown of Use of Force incidents per 1,000 population and the ratio of various ethnicities to White people across the Force for reporting period 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022.

• Ethnic Minority individuals are 2.28 times more likely to have force used upon them than White individuals. This is an increase from that reported in the previous reporting period, when Ethnic Minorities were 1.95 times more likely to have force used upon them than White individuals.

When compared to the Most Similar Group of Police Forces (MSG), Essex has the fourth highest Ethnic Minority to White ratio for Use of Force, but the second lowest Black to White ratio[2].

Stop and Search per 1000 population							Ratio to White
	White	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Chinese or Other Ethnic Group	Total Other than White	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Chinese or Other Ethnic Group	Total Other than White
Force	1.54	2.55	1.57	5.71	4.40	3.21	1.66	1.02	3.71	2.86	2.08

The above table shows a breakdown of stop and searches per 1,000 population and the ratio of various ethnicities to White across the Force in this reporting period.

• Ethnic Minority individuals are 2.08 times more likely to be stop and searched than White individuals. This is an increase from that reported in the previous reporting period, when Ethnic Minorities were 1.68 times more likely to be stop and searched than White individuals.

Essex ranks 6 out 8 in the Ethnic Minority to White ratio in our MSG and lowest Black to White ratio[3].

Activity

The North Local Policing Area (LPA) have launched their public facing Equality Panel which focuses on Use of Force, Stop and Search and complaints. Two meetings have already been held with learning shared amongst the policing area. The meetings allow the group to review interactions and provides an insight into officers decision making, particularly around minority groups. A recent inspection has looked at the levels of Stop and Search in the Braintree & Uttlesford District due to the high volumes being completed. The review identified no unethical practise or disproportionality. Positive outcomes were identified to be in line with force level outcomes. The review identified the increased activity was due to good proactive police work.

The South LPA have introduced Stop & Search Review Panels which are attended by frontline officers and members of the Independent Advisory Group. The panels review Body Worn Video (BWV) footage from a stop & search encounter to consider the engagement, capture any learning and feeding back to officers and/or teams as required. Participation of the IAG provides a community perspective, but also gives an opportunity to build confidence.

The West LPA have introduced Project Certus to ensure community scrutiny relating to Police use of powers. Project Certus allows for BWV to be shown in IAG meetings as well as other scrutiny panels. This is with the aim to reduce the disproportionate use of policing powers and enhance transparency in the areas of stop search and traffic stops. There is independent scrutiny through the panels lead by CI Deex and the command team dip sampling regime where Certus compliance forms a part of the returns for Epping Forest and Brentwood.

[1] The Use of Force data analysed in this report includes instances where multiple forms have been submitted in relation to the use of force against one subject.  This is because one use of force form should be submitted by every officer who used force. Therefore, if three officers use force against one subject in relation to the same incident, three forms should be submitted, and the subject would appear three times in the data for that same incident.
[2] Home Office data 2020-21.
[3] MSG data are for the period November 2021 – April 2022.

Extensive activity takes place across all commands to ensure confidence and satisfaction levels improve across many areas. To improve in this area, policing must be seen to act legitimately, ethically and are transparent in our activity and scrutiny.

Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minority people in the service they will receive from Essex Police as measured by the independent force survey

There is no significant statistical difference in White and Ethnic Minority respondents’ views for many questions. Where significant differences do exist, these tend to relate to perceptions of fairness for example in the use if stop search powers and treatment of complaints.

Respondents were asked the following questions:

• “Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?” (Q13b)

Q13b	White % Good/Excellent (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Good/Excellent (NET)
12m to Sep 2020	72.9%	66.5%
12m to Dec 2020	76.6%	72.1%
12m to Mar 2021	79.4%	78.3%
12m to Jun 2021	79.9%	79.1%
12m to Sep 2021	81.4%	82.0%
12m to Dec 2021	80.4%	76.3%
12m to Mar 2022	79.4%	76.1%
12m to Jun 2022	78.4%	74.0%

• “How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?” (Q4)

Q4	White % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)
12m to Sep 2020	72.0%	67.6%
12m to Dec 2020	71.4%	70.1%
12m to Mar 2021	71.3%	72.5%
12m to Jun 2021	67.7%	68.0%
12m to Sep 2021	62.1%	61.6%
12m to Dec 2021	60.5%	56.8%
12m to Mar 2022	57.3%	59.4%
12m to Jun 2022	54.5%	61.1%

• “If you were to report a crime or incident in the future, how confident are you that you would receive a good service from Essex Police?” (Q10)

Q10	White % Very/Fairly Confident (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Very/Fairly Confident (NET)
12m to Sep 2020	73.2%	70.7%
12m to Dec 2020	76.3%	75.8%
12m to Mar 2021	77.8%	80.3%
12m to Jun 2021	77.7%	79.9%
12m to Sep 2021	78.3%	78.5%
12m to Dec 2021	76.3%	73.3%
12m to Mar 2022	75.1%	72.7%
12m to Jun 2022	73.4%	70.7%

• All respondents answered less positively to Q4, Q10 and Q13b in the 12 months to June 2022 compared to the same period in the previous year.
• Q13b: “Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?”. 5% pts. decrease for Ethnic Minority respondents and 2% pts. decrease for White respondents for the 12 months to June 2022 compared to the same period in the previous year. The confidence gap between White and Ethnic Minority respondents has increased to 5% pts., from a gap of 1% pt. for the same period in the previous year.
• Q4: “How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?”.  All respondents showed a lower level of confidence (61% for Ethnic Minority respondents and 55% for White respondents) in the 12 months to June 2022 compared to the same period in the previous year. Confidence decreased by 7% pts. for Ethnic Minority respondents and 13% pts. for White respondents over this period. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 6 pts. lower compared to White respondents.
• Q10: “If you were to report a crime or incident in the future, how confident are you that you would receive a good service from Essex Police?”.  Ethnic Minority respondents showed a lower level of confidence (71%) compared to White respondents (73%) in the 12 months to June 2022; this is a decrease of 9% pts. compared to the same period the previous year. White respondents showed a decrease of 5% pts. compared to the same period the previous year. The disparity remained the same in the 12 months to June 2022 compared to the same period in the previous year. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 2% pts. lower compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 2022, compared to 2% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 2021.

Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minorities, working to increase the number of those who feel they would be treated fairly if they made a complaint, as measured by the independent force survey

Respondents were asked the following questions:

• “If you were to make a complaint to Essex Police about an officer or staff member, do you think you would be treated fairly? (Q7)

Q7	White % Yes	Ethnic Minority % Yes
12m to Sep 2020	75.6%	68.4%
12m to Dec 2020	81.0%	74.2%
12m to Mar 2021	82.6%	73.8%
12m to Jun 2021	86.0%	76.6%
12m to Sep 2021	82.9%	68.0%
12m to Dec 2021	77.2%	58.7%
12m to Mar 2022	75.4%	60.3%
12m to Jun 2022	72.5%	60.5%

• “Please say how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am confident that the police use their stop and search power fairly and respectfully” (Q15)

Q15	White % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)
12m to Sep 2020	72.7%	59.3%
12m to Dec 2020	76.5%	65.0%
12m to Mar 2021	78.2%	70.9%
12m to Jun 2021	79.8%	71.6%
12m to Sep 2021	80.6%	69.6%
12m to Dec 2021	76.3%	57.7%
12m to Mar 2022	70.8%	61.9%
12m to Jun 2022	67.9%	60.0%

• All respondents answered less positively in the 12 months to June 2022 compared to the same period in the previous year to Q7 and Q15.
• Q7: “If you were to make a complaint to Essex Police about an officer or staff member, do you think you would be treated fairly?”.  Ethnic Minority respondents’ confidence decreased by 16% pts. in the 12 months to June 2022 compared to a decrease of 13% pts. for White respondents. The disparity increased from 9% pts. to 12% pts. compared to the same period in the previous year.
• Q15: “Please say how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am confident that the police use their stop and search power fairly and respectfully”.  All respondents’ confidence decreased by 12% pts. in the 12 months to June 2022 compared to the 12 months to June 2021. The disparity was 8% for both periods.

Example of activity to increase confidence and satisfaction:

The Criminal Justice Command have worked with the Media and Corporate Communications department to produce a video explaining what happens within a custody area. This video has been released to the public and has attracted positive attention. It is reported to have had over 51,000 views. There are plans for further videos to be made, which will feature other areas of the criminal justice process, the liaison and diversion work and the support for victims/witnesses while cases are going through the court process.

An example of activity undertaken to improve public confidence and satisfaction can be seen on the South LPA. An initiative has been introduced on whereby Body Worn Footage of stop and searches are reviewed every month across the LPA. 10 clips are chosen at random and reviewed by Inspectors (4 from Basildon, 4 from Southend, and 2 from Castle Point & Rochford), and then 4 of these will be subject to panel scrutiny. The panel is Chaired by a member of the Command Team, supported by the LPA Stop & Search Lead (Insp Peterson) with a variety of other staff and members of the IAG. Where areas of concerns/success are highlighted, and lessons learned, feedback is provided to officers. The boards have been well received, with many examples of good practice identified.

Implement and conduct a quarterly review of ongoing action aligned with the NPCC toolkit

The NPCC/APCC Policing vision 2025 states that (by 2025) policing will be a profession with a more representative workforce that will align the right skills, powers, and experiences to meet challenging requirements. The delivery plan produced was a template for Chief Constables to provide leadership and cultural change to deliver NPCC/APCC Vision 2025.  The delivery plan sets out the key components to successfully achieving the vision by focussing on:

• Leadership and culture
• Attraction/recruitment
• Retention
• Progression
• Wellbeing and fulfilment
• Exit from service with dignity

There are 4 toolkits in total, broken down into 9 areas on the online action tracker:

1. Our Leadership and Culture (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)

2. Attraction and Recruitment (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)                                    

3. Retention (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)                 

4. Progression (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)  

5. Wellbeing and Fulfilment (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)

6. Exit from service with dignity (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)

7. NPCC Our Communities Toolkit

8. NPCC Our Organisation Toolkit

9. NPCC Our Partners Toolkit

Toolkit area	Actions started January 2022	Completed Actions to date	Actions not started	Total of Actions per toolkit area
1	11	5	2	18
2	26	13	9	48
3	9	0	0	9
4	7	0	1	8
5	4	0	0	4
6	10	0	0	10
7	8	1	0	9
8	8	1	2	11
9	6	0	2	8
Total	85	20	20	125

The Diversity and Inclusion Team are responsible for ensuring progress is achieved against each action. Essex Police have chosen to adopt this national toolkit and included the delivery of it within the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. Suggestions within the toolkit ensure the force is inclusive through all aspects of policing and enables the force to evidence activity across each area.

Delivery against these actions is monitored through the Force Diversity and Inclusion Board chaired by the Chief Constable.

Diversity, equality, and inclusion training to be delivered to every officer, staff member and volunteer over the first two years of this strategy with an annual refresher thereafter

The training was launched on 14 July 2021 and is called ‘Leading Difference and Inclusion’ and focussed on the leader’s cohort (Sergeant and police staff grade SO1) between July 2021 and January 2022.  The training for the wider workforce commenced 17 January and will run through to November 2022.

• Phase 1 has concluded and has provided training for around 1,400 leaders (PS and SO1 and above).  This has been delivered in 2 modules with a commitment to embedding change through an action plan captured via a PDR objective.  Ten supporting monthly videos and podcasts will be launched monthly from September 2022.
• Phase 2 will provide training for around 5,200 of the general workforce between January - November 2022.  This is being delivered in 1 module. To date 3069 officers/staff and volunteers have already attended the training with a further 1038 booked on future sessions.
• Phase 3 will create an annual refresher online package for use from December 2022.

Thereafter, the intellectual rights of this product will be owned, and training will be delivered by Essex Police Learning & Development Department.  Survey results indicate a strong increase in knowledge and understanding across the Leaders cohort and a positive response from the general workforce.

Develop a diversity dashboard in order to monitor our progress against our objectives.

The Performance Analysis Unit have developed a Diversity Dashboard which includes: Victims, Suspects, Arrests, Outcomes, DA, Hate Crime, Honour Based Crime, Racial Crime, Sexual Offences and Community Resolutions. Separate dashboards for Stop and Search and Use of Force have also been developed and is now delivered on a monthly basis.

Implement an annual Essex Police Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Conference.

In publishing the Diversity, Equality & Inclusion strategy, the Chief Constable committed to host an annual conference. The ‘Towards Excellence’ conference took place on 31 May 2022. The conference had three themes of Our Organisation, Our Partners and Our Communities. The conference allowed us to make our partners and the public aware that we have and are proud of, our values to embrace diversity, equality and inclusion and service excellence, both in policy and action. The day also looked at in-house achievements to date, but more importantly, looked ahead at future activity that will evidence that we are an anti-racist, inclusive force of policing excellence.

Feedback from delegates included how helpful and insightful the event was. Many created new connections with partners and communities. Delegates felt the range of guest speakers was balanced and though the workshops and Q&A sessions was useful. Many enjoyed being given a greater insight into the workings of Essex Police and the work that goes into keeping the people of Essex safe and the extensive efforts into engaging with communities.

Example of activity to improve inclusive culture:

The North LPA have introduced ‘Maternity Drop-In sessions’. These have been developed to include those who are currently going through any adoption or fostering process and for those in same sex relationships who are starting a family. To support the workforce in the LPA, there are ‘Parent SPOCs’ in each district for those seeking guidance and support.  Quarterly meetings are scheduled to allow staff and officers on maternity, paternity, adoption leave or other parenting related leave to attend and meet with others in similar situations and seek support to aid their return to the workplace. These sessions are supported by the Help Forum.

In this reporting period there have been several events by the various Support Networks to support the workforce feel included and to raise awareness of significant dates. Examples include the LGBTQ+ Network holding virtual myth busting events for each individual letter of ‘LGBTQ’. On the 26th April, they held the first session focussing on ‘G’. The network also held its first tri-service event to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). This virtual event saw Police work together with the East of England Ambulance Service and the Essex County Fire & Rescue Service to raise awareness across services of discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community.

On the 17th June the LGBTQ+ Network and the Disability & Carers Network worked together to host an Autism Pride event. Th event focussed on our workforce and their loved experience and being autistic and identifying as LGBTQ+. This event was a good example of intersectionality and networks working together to improve awareness across the organisation.

Performance Information and Data

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 (pfcc.police.uk)

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 (pfcc.police.uk)

Pay Equality

Each year Essex Police publish, separately to this report, an Equality Pay Gap report. The 2021 report was published in Spring 2022 on the Essex Police website:

Gender pay gap | Essex Police

Essex Police: Workforce Distribution

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. The link to this report is provided below:

https://www.essex.pfcc.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/7.0-HR-Commentary-2021-Mar-21-v0.7-Final-approved-15.04.21-update.pdf