Statutory Duty Information Quarterly Report January to March 2023

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.

The data presented here covers January to March 2023, and 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		% Mar 2022	% Mar 2023	% 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	4.4	4.1	-0.3	Deteriorating
	White	93.8	93.9	0.1
	Declined to state	1.8	2.0	0.2
% of Police	Ethnic Minority	4.2	4.1	-0.1	Deteriorating
	White	93.7	93.6	-0.1
	Declined to state	2.1	2.3	0.2
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	Ethnic Minority	4.5	4.2	-0.3	Deteriorating
	White	93.8	94.0	0.3
	Declined to state	1.8	1.8	0.1
% of PCSO	Ethnic Minority	1.0	0.0	-1.0	Deteriorating
	White	97.1	98.1	1.0
	Declined to state	1.9	1.9	0.0
% of Specials	Ethnic Minority	6.0	5.2	-0.8	Deteriorating
	White	94.0	94.8	0.8
	Declined to state	0.0	0.0	0.0
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	10.0	18.2	8.2	Improving
% of Superintendents	Ethnic Minority	3.4	7.7	4.2	Improving
%of Chief Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	4.4	6.1	1.7	Improving
% of Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	1.4	2.0	0.6	Improving
% of Sergeants	Ethnic Minority	2.7	2.5	-0.2	Deteriorating
% of Constables	Ethnic Minority	4.3	4.2	-0.1	Deteriorating
% of Student Constables	Ethnic Minority	6.5	5.3	-1.2	Deteriorating
% of Chief Officers	Female	20.0	16.7	-3.3	Deteriorating
% of Chief Superintendents	Female	30.0	27.3	-2.7	Deteriorating
% of Superintendents	Female	27.6	23.1	-4.5	Deteriorating
%of Chief Inspectors	Female	20.0	26.5	6.5	Improving
% of Inspectors	Female	27.5	31.8	4.3	Improving
% of Sergeants	Female	28.4	28.6	0.1	Improving
% of Constables	Female	36.8	38.4	1.6	Improving
% of Student Constables	Female	48.2	45.6	-2.6	Deteriorating

Objective: Narrow the disparity

Indicators - per 1,000 population (where ethnicity recorded)		Q4 2021/22	Q4 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	5.4	4.4	-1.0	Improving
	White	2.8	2.7
Stop and Searches	Ethnic Minority	1.9	2.2	0.3	Deteriorating
	White	1.1	1.5

Objective: Increase satisfaction and confidence

Indicators			% 12 months to Mar 2022	% 12 months to Mar 2023	% 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	76.1	79.1	3.0	Stable
		White	79.4	72.9	-6.5	Deteriorating
• How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	59.4	59.3	-0.1	Stable
		White	57.3	51.1	-6.2	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	72.7	73.9	1.2	Stable
		White	75.1	66.6	-8.5	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	60.3	63.3	3.0	Stable
		White	75.4	67.7	-7.7	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	61.9	58.6	-3.3	Stable
		White	70.8	59.9	-10.9	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. During the three months Jan 23 to March 23 Essex Police received 509 applications to be a Police Constable. Of the 509 applications received 207 were from females (40.6%) and 61 (12%) from Ethnic Minority applicants.

Main advertising tactics were as follows:

• Google ads
• Facebook sponsored ads for Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP), Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram
• The Pass Out Parade on 20 January, focussed on officer case studies: 'Meet Colchester’s newest officer; PC Connor Manning' and an Instagram reel which was our best performing advert reached 16.4k people. February’s Pass out parade content collectively reached over 100,000 people and we used female case studies to encourage more female applications. Further, in March we celebrated International Women’s Day to showcase a range of female officers within case studies to attract new female recruits and to promote Essex Police as an inclusive organisation. 
• In March we ran an online display campaign where clicks and conversions came from both Essex and Greater London, showing we are attracting candidates from wider than simply Essex.

Force Control Room (FCR)

March 2023 saw the launch of our Rapid Video Response (RVR). This technology allows the capture of early based evidence, this increases the likelihood of gaining support of a vulnerable victim. Contact Management Command will work with the Victims and Witnesses Board to review services to consider any adjustments that will increase the service already offered.

The Positive Action Team (PAT) focus on the following objectives of the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy:

• Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce.
• Improve inclusive culture and increase awareness and understanding of diversity and equality.
• Increase public satisfaction and confidence in Essex Police

Due to this important work females (as a percentage of the total workforce) are at the highest levels since 2013-2014 when this data was first available.

A key focus of the team until the end of March 2023, was to support the national Police Uplift Programme (PUP) and focussed activities that aim to recruit females and those from Ethnic Minority backgrounds as part of either the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA), Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP) or Initial Police Learning and Development (IPLDP) recruitment entry routes.  This work, alongside numerous others, helped Essex Police exceed what it set out to do around Police recruitment. 

The team are also leading on a workstream, in conjunction with Local Policing Support Unit, Serious Crime Directorate and Community Policing Teams to map communities. The aim of this activity is to be able to evidence a rich picture of our communities to assist with operational decision making and delivery; providing community reassurance; managing critical and major incidents and effective engagement and recruitment outreach.

The team are also working with the Professional Standards Department (PSD) to build trust and confidence within ethnic minority communities surrounding investigations and complaints. Recommendations have been made to PSD from a Positive Action/MESA standpoint, through outcomes, educating the internal workforce and showing understanding to the communities from different backgrounds. Work will include an information/user guide for staff, training through continual professional development days and case studies. This work also supports other activities the team are engaged with around the Police Race Action Plan. 

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
	31/03/2022	31/03/2023	% change	31/03/2023
% of Total Work Force	4.36	4.11	-0.26	0.52
% of Police	4.17	4.09	-0.08	0.39
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	4.48	4.16	-0.32	0.69
% of PCSO	0.97	0.00	-0.97	0.00
% of Specials	6.02	5.20	-0.82	0.92

• There has been a slight decrease (0.26% pt.) in the proportion of Ethnic Minority officers/staff in March 2023 (270) compared to March 2022 (286); this equates to 16 fewer officers/staff.

• As of end of March 2023, 509 applications are currently in the recruitment pipeline with 61 Ethnic Minority applicants 12.52%) and 207 female applicants (42.50%). It is worthy of note that for September 2022 to present, the average weekly amount of ethnic minority applicants is 15%.

• The proportion of Ethnic Minority Police Officers (as a percentage of all officers) decreased slightly by 0.25% pts in March 2023 (4.11%) compared to March 2022 (4.36%). Between April 2022 - March 2023, there were 17 ethnic minority officers who left Essex Police for a variety of reasons including four transferring to other forces or relocating home and two retirements. To aid maximising retention, there is now daily scrutiny of officer leaver data and pro-active work is undertaken by the Positive Action Team through liaison with the officer around their reasons for leaving and if any remedial work can be undertaken to mitigate or in case of any organisational learning.

Black or Black British employees represent 0.52% of the total work force. There are currently no Black or Black British PCSOs and unfortunately this is unlikely to change in the immediate future as there is currently no recruitment taking place for PCSOs in Essex Police.

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

Ethnic Minority employees							Black or Black British
	31/03/2022		31/03/2023		Difference		31/03/2023
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%
% of Chief Superintendents	1	10.00%	2	18.18%	1	8.18%	0	0.00%
% of Superintendents	1	3.45%	2	7.69%	1	4.24%	1	0.03%
% of Chief Inspectors	2	4.44%	3	6.12%	1	1.68%	1	0.03%
% of Inspectors	2	1.41%	3	2.03%	1	0.62%	0	0.00%
% of Sergeants	12	2.67%	13	2.51%	1	-0.16%	1	0.03%
% of Constables	118	4.34%	115	4.23%	-3	-0.11%	9	0.24%
% of Student Constables	16	6.53%	18	5.33%	2	-1.21%	3	0.08%
Force	152	4.17%	156	4.09%	4	-0.08%	15	0.39%

• There are now at least two officers from an Ethnic Minority in every rank in Essex Police other than within the Chief Officer team.

• The percentage of Ethnic Minority Student Constables decreased to 5.3% in March 2023 compared to 6.5% in March 2022.

• There is one Black or Black British employee in the Superintendent, Chief Inspector and Sergeant rank. There are nine Black or Black British employees in the Constable rank, and three Student Constables.
  
  

Female employees							Black or Black British
	31/03/2022		31/03/2023		Difference		31/03/2023
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	1	20.00%	1	16.67%	0	-3.33%	0	0.00%
% of Chief Superintendents	3	30.00%	3	27.27%	0	-2.73%	0	0.00%
% of Superintendents	8	27.59%	6	23.08%	-2	-4.51%	1	0.07%
% of Chief Inspectors	9	20.00%	13	26.53%	4	6.53%	0	0.00%
% of Inspectors	39	27.46%	47	31.76%	8	4.29%	0	0.00%
% of Sergeants	128	28.44%	148	28.57%	20	0.13%	1	0.07%
% of Constables	1000	36.78%	1042	38.37%	42	1.59%	0	0.00%
% of Student Constables	118	48.16%	154	45.56%	36	-2.60%	1	0.07%
Force	1,306	35.83%	1,414	37.09%	108	1.26%	3	0.21%

• The number of female employees has remained the same in the Chief Officer and Chief Superintendent ranks but has decreased by two in the Superintendent rank in March 2023 compared to March 2022. The ranks of Chief Inspector, Inspector and Sergeant increased by four, eight and 20 female officers respectively. 

• There are 108 more female Constables in March 2023 compared to March 2022. 

• The percentage of Female Student Constables decreased by 2.6% pts in March 2023 compared to March 2022. 

• There is one Black or Black British female employee in the Superintendent and Sergeant ranks, and one Student Constable.

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 four promotion processes. During all promotion processes, the Positive Action Team complete extensive outreach through national support networks, to attract external candidates from diverse backgrounds.

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.

On the 16th of January 2023, our newly appointed Lead Chaplain Hannah Kelly hosted our World Religion Day. Inputs were delivered from Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Christian faiths. 50 members of our staff and community enjoyed this event. Two pictures below are from the event.

On Thursday 9th February we joined Essex County Fire and Rescue for a Race Equality event during Race Equality Week. Both services proudly hold the Race at Work Charter. The event had speakers from both services providing lived experiences. Early census date was scrutinised to try and predict what the communities we both serve would look like.

The Safe to Say Campaign remains active within Essex Police. The willingness of staff to voluntarily self-declare their visible or non-visible protected characteristics is an important measure of an inclusive healthy organisation. Raising awareness of the support networks and promoting inclusivity generally has resulted in an improved declaration rate. It is important for the force to understand the diverse make-up of the organisation and ensure that we better reflect the communities we serve. The following table details this across the workforce:

Diversity Category - Gender: Female

Employee Group	Headcount as at 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	1414	37.09%	35.83%	34.53%	31.95%	31.69%
Staff	1570	67.38%	65.63%	65.20%	64.35%	63.48%
PCSOs	68	65.38%	63.11%	58.18%	54.46%	60.17%
Specials	102	31.19%	34.19%	32.45%	30.21%	28.49%

Diversity Category - Self Declared Gender: Prefer to Self Describe

Employee Group	Headcount as at 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	5	0.13%	0.05%	0.09%	-	-
Staff	3	0.13%	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 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	873	22.90%	22.36%	21.52%	15.98%	13.55%
Staff	684	29.36%	28.86%	27.70%	20.82%	18.56%
PCSOs	28	26.92%	22.33%	24.55%	21.78%	15.68%
Specials	113	34.56%	30.97%	28.65%	23.89%	12.63%

Diversity Category - Ethnicity: Ethnic Minorities

Employee Group	Headcount as at 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	156	4.09%	4.17%	3.72%	2.17%	2.07%
Staff	97	4.16%	4.48%	4.45%	3.50%	2.97%
PCSOs	0	0.00%	0.97%	0.91%	0.99%	2.12%
Specials	17	5.20%	6.02%	6.64%	4.92%	3.49%

Diversity Category - Sexuality: Bisexual/Gay/Lesbian

Employee Group	Headcount as at 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	195	5.12%	4.75%	3.98%	2.14%	1.54%
Staff	89	3.82%	3.42%	2.91%	1.52%	1.19%
PCSOs	3	2.88%	2.91%	3.64%	2.97%	2.97%
Specials	13	3.98%	4.52%	3.98%	4.45%	2.42%

Diversity Category - Disability: Yes

Employee Group	Headcount as at 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	253	6.64%	5.49%	4.90%	4.08%	3.92%
Staff	216	9.27%	8.97%	7.95%	6.77%	6.73%
PCSOs	14	13.46%	8.74%	8.18%	4.95%	5.08%
Specials	4	1.22%	0.86%	0.19%	0.94%	0.00%

Diversity Category - Nationality: Declared Nationalities Excluding British

Employee Group	Headcount as at 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	61	1.60%	1.18%	1.03%	0.53%	0.44%
Staff	44	1.89%	1.71%	1.71%	1.29%	1.14%
PCSOs	0	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Specials	9	2.75%	3.01%	3.98%	2.81%	1.88%

Diversity Category - Marital Status: Married or Civil Partnership

Employee Group	Headcount as at 31/03/2023	% as at 31/03/2023 & 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	1229	32.24%	34.02%	36.59%	47.47%	55.52%
Staff	892	38.28%	39.62%	40.44%	44.86%	51.66%
PCSOs	52	50.00%	51.46%	53.64%	60.40%	54.66%
Specials	35	10.70%	8.60%	7.97%	13.35%	22.85%

• There was a slight increase in the percentages of officers who stated their sexual orientation – now sitting at 5.12% %, staff has increased to 3.82%.

• There was a slight increase in the percentage of officers who declared a religion – officers 22.90%, staff increased to 29.36%.

• There was an increase in the percentages of employees who declared a disability – officers 6.64%, staff decreased to 9.27%, and PCSOs increased to 13.46% and Specials increased to 1.22%

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 Independent Advisory Groups and young people. The group review data and activity produced for the Use of Force Board, which provides the force wide governance around the use of these police powers.

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	2.71	2.23	7.92	2.52	6.33	4.41	0.82	2.92	0.93	2.34	1.63

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 1st January 2023 – 31st March 2023. Ethnic Minority individuals are 1.63 times more likely to have force used upon them than White individuals, a reduction from the previous reporting period.

Essex ranks 6 out 7 in our Most Similar Group (MSG) of forces in the Ethnic Minority to White ratio and lowest in the Black to White ratio. It should be noted that Police.uk have not yet moved to the 2021 Census data and are still using 2011 data. It is unclear what impact this will have in terms of the Essex Police position in the MSG table.

Stop and Search

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	1.49	1.87	1.20	3.82	2.23	2.23	1.26	0.81	2.56	1.50	1.50

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 1.5 times more likely to be stop and searched than white individuals. This is a slight increase from that reported in the previous reporting period, when Ethnic Minorities were 1.4 times more likely to be stop and searched than White individuals. 

• OPC, supported by LPSU, review and QA the proportionality, necessity, and justification of 10% of stops every month. Feedback is provided to the individual and through the Use of Force Board to ensure that learning and development is captured. 

• All LPAs and OPC have well embedded Body Worn Video review processes, including scrutiny panels which are supported by IAG members to monitor officers use of stop and search and use of force powers.

Essex ranks 4 out 7 in our Most Similar Group (MSG) of forces in the Ethnic Minority to White ratio and 6th in the Black to White ratio. It should be noted that Police.uk have not yet moved to the 2021 Census data and are still using 2011 data. It is unclear what impact this will have in terms of the Essex Police position in the MSG table. 

[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.

Local Policing Activity

North Local Policing Area (NLPA)

The most recent North Local Policing Area Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Board saw the focus turn to neurodiversity. The Board had inputs from two officers from the North LPA talking about their personal experiences and this led to some ongoing work with Contact Management about the incident management software the force uses and the accessibility of it.

The North LPA is interacting and building links with community faith groups. Each District Commander and their Community Policing Team are in the process of engaging with all faith leaders and churches in their respective areas. A list of all community contacts in this area will be widely available to the command should the urgent need arise to make contact following an incident.  

The North LPA hosted their drop-in event in Braintree for parents on paternity / maternity leave. This was well attended by eight officers and staff. Those in attendance obtained support from Human Resources and the Parenting Lead from the internal HELP Forum.

South Local Policing Area (SLPA)

The South LPA is aware of a disproportionate number of service-related complaints in the LPA and several actions have been implemented to reduce the number of complaints. The complaints process has been reformed, giving a single point of contact who has oversight of the complaints process and is training supervisors on complaint resolution. This has been met with positive feedback. 

Both Southend and Basildon have good Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs) and are receiving strong support in their meetings. Both IAGs are working to increase membership and participation from different community groups. It is hoped new partnership working community groups such as Side-by-Side can now be enhanced.

A new “Family Navigator” role has been established in conjunction with the NHS which is being trialled on Canvey Island. We have engaged with local partners at an early stage with the aim to have this social proscribing teamwork run alongside all local Community Policing Teams. This role is designed to work “one step below” normal social care intervention, where a family receive early intervention designed to reduce further social care interactions.

West Local Policing Area (LPA)

The Thurrock Scrutiny Panel meets with faith leaders and Harlow IAG are going to start reviewing police officer Body Worn Video (BWV) at their meetings. The Command Team have completed a piece of work on BWV review and feedback for stop and search encounters, providing a procedural justice framework. This, along with additional administration reports, provide the means to review, support and develop officers where identified. Community scrutiny will be further developed in Harlow in Spring 2023.

[5] Data supplied by SMSR: Social & Market Strategic Research. Data to June 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)
• “How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?” (Q4)
• “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)

[2] Data supplied by SMSR: Social & Market Strategic Research. Data to June 2022.

Q13b	White % Good/Excellent (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Good/Excellent (NET)
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%
12m to Sep 2022	76.4%	77.0%
12m to Dec 2022	74.7%	78.6%
12m to Mar 2023	72.9%	79.1%

• “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 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%
12m to Sep 2022	53.6%	61.8%
12m to Dec 2022	52.2%	62.0%
12m to Mar 2023	51.1%	59.3%

• “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 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%
12m to Sep 2022	70.4%	73.9%
12m to Dec 2022	68.9%	74.1%
12m to Mar 2023	66.6%	73.9%

• White respondents answered less positively to Q4, Q10 and Q13b in the 12 months to March 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. Ethnic Minority respondents’ confidence level remained stable over both periods.

• Ethnic Minority respondents’ confidence is higher than White respondents’ for all three questions in the 12 months to March 2023, compared to lower for Q10 and Q13 and higher for Q4 in the 12 months to March 2022. 

• Q13b: “Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?”. There was a 3% pts. increase for Ethnic Minority respondents and a significant decrease of 6% pts. for White respondents for the 12 months to March 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 6% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to March 2023, compared to 3% pts. lower compared to White respondents in the 12 months to March 2022. 

• Q4: “How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?”.  Confidence remained stable for Ethnic Minority respondents in the 12 months to March this year and last year (59%) but significantly decreased by 6% pts. for White respondents (51%) in the 12 months to March 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year (57%). The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 8% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to March 2023, compared to 2% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to March 2022. 

• 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 higher level of confidence (74%) compared to White respondents (67%) in the 12 months to March 2023. White respondents showed a significant decrease of 8% pts. compared to the same period the previous year. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 7% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to March 2023, compared to 2% pts. lower for the same period in the previous year. 

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 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%
12m to Sep 2022	69.7%	63.2%
12m to Dec 2022	67.6%	63.9%
12m to Mar 2023	67.7%	63.3%

• “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 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%
12m to Sep 2022	63.8%	60.3%
12m to Dec 2022	60.8%	59.7%
12m to Mar 2023	59.9%	58.6%

• White respondents answered slightly more positively in the 12 months to March 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year to Q7 and Q15. Ethnic Minority respondents’ confidence level remained stable for both periods but with an increase of 3% pts. for Q7 and a decrease of 3% pts. for 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 remained stable in the 12 months to March 2023 with an decrease of 3% pts. compared to a significant decrease of 7% pts. for White respondents. The disparity decreased from 15% to 5% 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”. Confidence significantly decreased by 11% pts. for White respondents (60%) in the 12 months to March 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year (71%), Ethnic Minority confidence remained stable with a decrease of 3% pts in the same period (59% vs 62%). The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 1% pt. lower compared to White respondents in the 12 months to March 2023, compared to 9% pts. lower for the same period in the previous year. 

Example of activity to increase confidence and satisfaction:

Crime and Public Protection

The new force wide Victim Closure Document will be launched in March 2023. This document will cover areas such as disengagement rates and reasons, satisfaction and dissatisfaction rates and Victims Code of Practice compliance.

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 March 2023	Completed Actions to date	Actions not started	Total of Actions per toolkit area
1	0	17	0	17
2	7	24	0	31
3	1	8	0	9
4	3	6	0	8
5	0	5	0	5
6	3	4	0	7
7	3	6	0	9
8	0	11	0	11
9	6	2	0	8
Total	23	83	0	105

The Diversity and Inclusion Team are responsible for enabling and supporting progress against each action. Essex Police have chosen to adopt this national toolkit and included the delivery of it within the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

It should be noted that the current Toolkit will be replaced by the forthcoming Police Race Action Plan and its related toolkit.

Diversity, equality, and inclusion training has been delivered to the majority of the workforce over the last two years. Essex Police has worked collaboratively with an external provider (Pearlcatchers) to develop our diversity, equality and inclusion training package across the force.

The training, called ‘Leading Difference and Inclusion’ for leaders, and ‘Valuing Difference and Inclusion’ for the general workforce, was launched on 14 July 2021 and is being delivered across three phases:

• 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. 
• Phase 2 provided training for around 5,200 of the general workforce between January - November 2022.  This was delivered in 1 module. At the end of this reporting period, 3069 officers/staff and volunteers have already attended the training with a further 1038 booked on future sessions.
• Phase 3 3 will see ten supporting monthly videos and podcasts launched monthly from early 2023 followed by an annual refresher package for use from December 2023.

Over the next 10 months our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Team will be sharing a series of videos and podcasts that spotlights each of the protected characteristics from the Equality Act 2010 in addition to other areas not covered by the Act but that makes us uniquely different, embraces the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and our determination to promote dignity for all.  

These videos will feature our own people who talk about their lived experience giving invaluable insight into the challenges that face and the importance of having honest discussions about diversity, equality and inclusion.  

These videos are mandatory for all to watch and will be facilitated by Line Managers. Compliance rates are being shared with Heads of Department to ensure that officers and staff are learning through the Develop Me Learning Hub process. 

Survey results indicate a strong increase in knowledge and understanding across the Leaders cohort and a positive response from the general workforce following phases 1 and 2.

Develop a diversity dashboard 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 monthly.

LGBT Representation

There was an increase in the percentages of officers and staff who stated their sexual orientation - officers 5.12% (completion rate 68.82%), staff by 3.82% (completion rate 69.75%). The completion rate includes ‘prefer not to say.’

Example of activity to improve inclusive culture:

Essex Police have employed a full-time Chaplain within the Diversity and Inclusion Team. The Essex Police Lead Chaplain will provide internal chaplaincy support for officers, staff and volunteers, as well as providing advice regarding any operational matters linked to faith. One recent example involved supporting the Estates Change Team with advice on the process for the movement of a religious book, ensuring the movement was conducted respectfully and appropriately. 

Diversity Equality Inclusion Briefing Sessions.

Diversity, equality and inclusion briefing sessions have been delivered to new recruits, newly promoted Sergeants and Inspectors. These interactive sessions are designed to promote the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, prompt discussion around the 9 protected characteristics and promote inclusion within the workplace. These on-going sessions give us the best opportunity to attract and retain our diverse talent.

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