Statutory Duty Information Quarterly Report April to June 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 April to June 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		% Jun 2022	% Jun 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	4.2	4.1	-0.1	Deteriorating
	White	93.8	93.7	-0.1
	Declined to state	1.9	2.2	0.2
% of Police	Ethnic Minority	4.0	4.0	0.0	Stable
	White	93.8	93.6	-0.2
	Declined to state	2.2	2.4	0.2
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	Ethnic Minority	4.3	4.2	-0.1	Deteriorating
	White	93.8	93.7	-0.1
	Declined to state	1.9	2.0	0.2
% of PCSO	Ethnic Minority	0.9	0.0	-0.9	Deteriorating
	White	96.2	98.1	1.9
	Declined to state	2.8	1.9	-1.0
% of Specials	Ethnic Minority	6.0	5.3	-0.7	Deteriorating
	White	94.0	94.7	0.7
	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	15.4	18.2	2.8	Improving
% of Superintendents	Ethnic Minority	3.3	8.7	5.4	Improving
%of Chief Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	4.3	5.9	1.5	Improving
% of Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	1.5	1.4	-0.1	Deteriorating
% of Sergeants	Ethnic Minority	2.8	2.3	-0.6	Deteriorating
% of Constables	Ethnic Minority	4.3	4.3	0.0	Stable
% of Student Constables	Ethnic Minority	5.0	5.1	0.1	Improving
% of Chief Officers	Female	20.0	16.7	-3.3	Deteriorating
% of Chief Superintendents	Female	23.1	27.3	4.2	Improving
% of Superintendents	Female	23.3	26.1	2.8	Improving
%of Chief Inspectors	Female	23.9	27.5	3.5	Improving
% of Inspectors	Female	27.3	30.8	3.5	Improving
% of Sergeants	Female	28.5	29.0	0.6	Improving
% of Constables	Female	37.2	38.2	1.0	Improving
% of Student Constables	Female	46.5	49.2	2.7	Improving

Objective: Narrow the disparity

Indicators - per 1,000 population (where ethnicity recorded)		Q1 2022/23	Q1 2023/24	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	6.4	5.2	-1.2	Improving
	White	2.8	2.8
Stop and Searches	Ethnic Minority	3.2	2.6	-0.6	Improving
	White	1.5	1.5

Objective: Increase satisfaction and confidence

Indicators			% 12 months to Jun 2022	% 12 months to Jun 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	74.0	79.5	5.5	Stable
		White	78.4	71.4	-7.0	Deteriorating
• How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	61.1	58.9	-2.2	Stable
		White	54.5	50.6	-3.9	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	70.7	75.5	4.8	Stable
		White	73.4	65.2	-8.2	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	60.5	63.2	2.7	Stable
		White	72.5	66.7	-5.8	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	60.0	57.6	-2.4	Stable
		White	67.9	58.6	-9.3	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 April 23 to June 23 Essex Police received 339 applications to be a Police Constable. Of the 339 applications received 117 were from females (34.5%) and 43 (12.7%) from Ethnic Minority applicants.

Main advertising tactics were as follows:

• Paid-for recruitment adverts showing different roles and teams and PC Luke Watson on a chase on LinkedIn
• Google search and YouTube adverts
• Radio advert on Greatest Hits Radio
• Pride Essex to attract recruits from LGBTQ+ communities
• Paid-for Crooton  job boards campaign launched in June
• Scalextric recruitment ​angle: Quick to catch criminals and keep our roads safe - but not afraid to be different
• We’re not afraid to be different advert: Quick to catch criminals and keep our roads safe - but not afraid to be different - YouTube
• News story - Seven days to apply​ : Seven days to change your life
• Repurposed Press Office content​
• POP video & profile content
• POP article: Chief: Police officers must be paid fairly
• Officer case studies
• Advocate stories: Meet our Response Officer of the Year nominee

Force Control Room (FCR)

Since rolling out SMS text feedback, the FCR have been able to obtain citizen feedback on their contact experience.

The screen shot below shows the current feedback.  Contact Management Command also provided an input during Officers Flex training promoting the ‘Help us, help you’ campaign around targeted Police contact.

As of May 2023, 80% of respondents to the survey were satisfied with the time it took to answer their call, 83% were satisfied with the ability of the call handler to resolve their cal and 87% were satisfied with the overall service they had received. These surveys will continue to be developed and sent out to those who require the service of Essex Police.

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 11.2%. 

Ethnic Minority employees				Black or Black British
	30/06/2022	30/06/2023	% change	30/06/2023
% of Total Work Force	4.23	4.10	-0.14	0.52
% of Officers	4.05	4.04	-0.01	0.39
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	4.35	4.22	-0.12	0.69
% of PCSO	0.94	0.00	-0.94	0.00
% of Specials	6.02	5.32	-0.70	0.92

• There has been a slight decrease (0.14% pt.) in the proportion of Ethnic Minority officers/staff in June 2023 (266) compared to June 2022 (276); this equates to 10 fewer officers/staff.

• As of end of June 2023, 339 applications are currently in the recruitment pipeline with 43 Ethnic Minority applicants 12.7%) and 117 female applicants (34.50%).

• The proportion of Ethnic Minority Police Officers (as a percentage of all officers) decreased slightly by 0.01% pts in June 2023 (4.04%) compared to June 2022 (4.05%).

Black or Black British employees represent 0.52% of the total work force. There are no Black or Black British PCSOs.

The Positive Action Team (PAT) are responsible for supporting the following objectives of the diversity, equality and inclusion strategy:

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

The PAT are leading on a workstream, in conjunction with the Local Policing Support Unit (LPSU), Serious Crime Directorate (SCD) and Community Policing Teams (CPTs) 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. Since this work commenced, over 2000 lines of data are now filterable on the database and this data will become greater as use of the tool increases which will support our outreach recruitment activity of those from diverse communities.

The PAT also attended the South Essex College to speak with Policing students about the police recruitment process. Policing students are currently studying the processes and format needed to enter Essex Police as part of their Level 3 Extended Diploma and our experienced PAT spoke to students about how to prepare for the recruitment process, including discussing the importance of the application form, what’s involved, participating in an interview, and participating in a selection process.

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

Ethnic Minority employees							Black or Black British
	30/06/2022		30/06/2023		Difference		30/06/2023
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%
% of Chief Superintendents	2	15.38%	2	18.18%	0	2.80%	0	0.00%
% of Superintendents	1	3.33%	2	8.70%	1	5.36%	1	4.35%
% of Chief Inspectors	2	4.35%	3	5.88%	1	1.53%	1	1.96%
% of Inspectors	2	1.52%	2	1.37%	0	-0.15%	0	0.00%
% of Sergeants	14	2.85%	12	2.29%	-2	-0.56%	1	0.19%
% of Constables	115	4.26%	120	4.30%	5	0.04%	11	0.39%
% of Student Constables	12	4.98%	12	5.08%	0	0.11%	1	0.42%
Force	148	4.05%	153	4.04%	5	-0.01%	15	0.40%

• 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 increased slightly to 5.08% in June 2023 compared to 4.98% in June 2022.

• There is one Black or Black British employee in the Superintendent, Chief Inspector and Sergeant rank. There are 11 Black or Black British employees in the Constable rank, and one Student Constable.

Female employees							Black or Black British
	30/06/2022		30/06/2023		Difference		30/06/2023
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	1	20.00%	1	16.67%	0	-3.33%	0	0.00%
% of Chief Superintendents	3	23.08%	3	27.27%	0	4.20%	0	0.00%
% of Superintendents	7	23.33%	6	26.09%	-1	2.75%	1	16.67%
% of Chief Inspectors	11	23.91%	14	27.45%	3	3.54%	0	0.00%
% of Inspectors	36	27.27%	45	30.82%	9	3.55%	0	0.00%
% of Sergeants	140	28.46%	152	29.01%	12	0.55%	1	0.66%
% of Constables	1003	37.16%	1065	38.16%	62	1.00%	0	0.00%
% of Student Constables	112	46.47%	116	49.15%	4	2.68%	1	0.86%
Force	1,313	35.89%	1,402	38.33%	89	2.43%	3	0.21%

• The number of female employees has remained the same in the Chief Officer and Chief Superintendent ranks but has decreased by one in the Superintendent rank in June 2023 compared to June 2022. The ranks of Chief Inspector, Inspector and Sergeant increased by three, nine and 12 female officers respectively.

• There are 62 more female Constables in June 2023 compared to June 2022.

• The percentage of Female Student Constables increased by 2.7% pts in June 2023 compared to June 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, the PAT have completed extensive outreach activity through national support networks, to attract external candidates from diverse backgrounds for all four promotion processes in this reporting period.

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.

In acknowledgement of World Autism Day on the 2nd April 2023, Essex Police hosted an online Autism awareness event. 20 colleagues joined this call and received inputs from colleagues and local support charities. This event was designed to raise awareness of Autism and being Neurodivergent.

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. The following table details this across the workforce. 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.  

Diversity Category - Gender: Female

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	1448	34.65% ↑	34.63%	33.69%	32.45%	31.31%	28.78%
Staff	1592	67.46% ↓	67.62%	66.67%	65.76%	64.92%	62.93%
PCSOs	83	60.14% →	60.14%	49.34%	47.58%	48.50%	49.34%
Specials	43	21.61% ↓	21.67%	26.16%	22.70%	20.00%	24.17%

Diversity Category - Self Declared Gender: Prefer to Self Describe

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	9	0.22% ↑	0.19%	0.15%	0.10%	-	-
Staff	4	0.17% →	0.17%	0.24%	0.12%	-	-
PCSOs	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	0.28%	-	-
Specials	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	-	-

Diversity Category - Religion: Declared a Religion

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	1177	28.16% ↓	28.23%	27.69%	27.13%	25.05%	16.25%
Staff	827	35.04% ↑	35.03%	32.85%	31.48%	26.93%	16.53%
PCSOs	39	28.26% ↑	27.70%	26.82%	25.07%	24.85%	18.21%
Specials	69	34.67% ↓	36.45%	32.78%	31.61%	30.88%	20.20%

Diversity Category - Ethnicity: Ethnic Minorities

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	157	3.76% ↓	3.80%	3.89%	3.97%	3.42%	2.86%
Staff	90	3.81% ↓	3.83%	3.46%	3.50%	3.31%	2.61%
PCSOs	5	3.62% ↑	3.38%	2.65%	2.85%	2.51%	0.99%
Specials	12	6.03% ↓	6.40%	6.95%	5.75%	4.91%	2.65%

Diversity Category - Sexuality: Bisexual/Gay/Lesbian

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	207	4.95% ↑	4.92%	4.35%	3.82%	3.40%	1.72%
Staff	119	5.04% ↑	4.93%	4.27%	4.30%	3.43%	1.35%
PCSOs	3	2.17% ↑	2.03%	1.66%	2.85%	3.29%	2.32%
Specials	14	7.04% ↓	7.39%	5.30%	5.46%	5.26%	4.64%

Diversity Category - Disability: Yes

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	370	8.85% ↑	8.73%	6.98%	6.26%	4.98%	3.35%
Staff	265	11.23% ↑	10.91%	9.30%	8.26%	6.54%	4.52%
PCSOs	12	8.70% ↓	10.14%	6.29%	4.27%	3.29%	2.98%
Specials	5	2.51% ↑	2.46%	1.66%	0.29%	0.70%	0.33%

Diversity Category - Nationality: Declared Nationalities Excluding British

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	68	1.63% ↓	1.64%	1.21%	1.09%	0.87%	0.86%
Staff	41	1.74% ↓	1.77%	1.81%	1.54%	1.54%	1.12%
PCSOs	3	2.17% ↑	2.03%	2.32%	3.13%	2.69%	2.32%
Specials	5	2.51% ↓	3.45%	4.97%	5.17%	4.56%	1.66%

Diversity Category - Marital Status: Married or Civil Partnership

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/04/2023	% as at 30/04/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	1346	32.21% ↑	32.13%	35.10%	36.73%	38.19%	50.66%
Staff	905	38.35% ↓	38.36%	38.33%	37.78%	39.49%	48.30%
PCSOs	47	34.06% ↑	32.43%	25.83%	23.65%	24.25%	29.14%
Specials	19	9.55% ↑	9.36%	7.62%	8.05%	10.53%	9.27%

There was a slight increase in the percentages of officers who stated their sexual orientation – now sitting at 4.95% %, staff has increased to 5.04%.

• There was a slight decrease in the percentage of officers who declared a religion – officers28.16% staff increased to 35.04%.

• There was an increase in the percentages of employees who declared a disability – officers 8.85%, staff increased to 11.23%, and PCSOs decreased to 8.70% and Specials increased to 2.51%

The LGBTQ+ Network held their Annual Pride in our kids’ event on 13th June 2023. This two-hour session had inputs from Adele Ponton, Kirstie Kemp and Ben Powel aka Drag Queen; Shar Cooterie. The event was open to anyone and was designed to show how to support a child or parent in your personal life with LGBTQ+ concerns.

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 around reducing disproportionality 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 (IAGs) and young people. The group use data produced for the forces ‘Use of Force Board’ and review and monitor activity again this.

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 practise 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	2.76	2.59	10.14	2.35	6.70	5.21	0.94	3.67	0.85	2.43	1.89

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 April 30th June 2023. Ethnic Minority individuals are 1.9 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 1.6 times more likely to have force used upon them than White individuals.

Essex has the sixth highest Ethnic Minority to White ratio for Use of Force, and the lowest Black to White ratio[5]. 

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	1.50	2.14	1.86	3.93	2.54	2.62	1.43	1.24	2.62	1.69	1.75

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 1.8 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 1.5 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 6 out of 7 in our Most Similar Group (MSG) 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.

Activity

North Local Policing Area (NLPA)

The new census data has recently been released and we are working to understand the make-up of all our districts moving forward. A visit to Colchester Garrison identified a new large Hindu Community that Essex Police were previously unaware of and will now be engaging with.

The NLPA Command Team have run another promotion support event for the whole force to support those looking for promotion or a role in another area of business. This is for staff and officers and excellent feedback was received after the event. The Positive Action Team helped support this event. The NLPA Command Team all actively coach and mentor officers and staff from within and outside of the command. They also carefully consider the rationale around succession planning gradings to ensure that public confidence does not become an issue of concern.

South Local Policing Area (SLPA)

A Community Safety Engagement Officer (CSEO) Newsletter has been circulated to the Canvey Island Haredi community and publicised in Jewish publication. This was funded through the Community Safety Partnership (CSP). The CSEO is maintaining excellent communications with the Haredi community and has won a police award for his links with them. Plans for policing presentations on Hate Crime are in hand and the local District Commander recently visited the community to show Command Team awareness and support for any wider issues. Engagement remains positive and a Community Policing Team (CPT) officer now assists in dealing with criminal complaints, something which has been met with praise from local community leaders. We recently received feedback from the Jewish congregation in Harlow who cited the good work we have done in Canvey.

The SLPA is aware of a disproportionate number of service-related complaints in the LPA and several actions have been implemented to reduce these and provide a better service to the public. 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 from the community.

West Local Policing Area (WLPA)

We have been building relationships with local faith leaders via Operation Sacred and the CPT have been visiting the local faith establishments across the district. We held a recent Hate Crime engagement event at the Grays Sikh Temple. Officers also continue to hold Coffee with Cops/Let’s Talk drop ins across the district. Alongside this, we are encouraging local beat officers to attend Community Forum meetings to build working relationships with members of their communities.

2023 has seen an increase in requests for in-person attendance at events, such as school fetes, community group events etc. Where possible we look to include our external partners such as Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) and internal partners such as the LSPU fraud prevention officers at these events. 

[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.

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.

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

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 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%
12m to Jun 2023	71.4%	79.5%

• “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 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%
12m to Jun 2023	50.6%	58.9%

• “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 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%
12m to Jun 2023	65.2%	75.5%

• White respondents answered less positively to Q4, Q10 and Q13b in the 12 months to June 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 June 2023, compared to higher for Q4 but lower for Q10 and Q13 in the 12 months to June 2022.

• Q13b: “Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?”. There was a 6% pts. increase for Ethnic Minority respondents and a significant decrease of 7% pts. for White respondents for the 12 months to June 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year.

• The disparity increased by 13% pts in June 2023 compared to June 2022. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 9% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 2023, compared to 4% pts. lower compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 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 June this year (59%) compared to the same period last year (61%) but significantly decreased by 4% pts. for White respondents (51%) over the same period (55%).

• The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 8% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 2023, compared to 6% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 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 (76%) compared to White respondents (65%) in the 12 months to June 2023. White respondents showed a significant decrease of 8% pts. compared to the same period the previous year.

• The disparity increased by 13% pts in June 2023 compared to June 2022. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 11% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 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 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%
12m to Jun 2023	66.7%	63.2%

• “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 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%
12m to Jun 2023	58.6%	57.6%

• White respondents answered less positively in the 12 months to June 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 2% pts. for Q7 and a decrease of 2% 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 June 2023 with an increase of 2% pts. compared to a significant decrease of 6% pts. for White respondents.

• The disparity decreased from 12% pts. to 4% pts. compared to the same period in the previous year. Ethnic minority confidence was lower for both periods (12m to June 2023 63% vs 67%, 12m to June 2022 61% vs 73%).

• 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 9% pts. for White respondents (59%) in the 12 months to June 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year (68%), Ethnic Minority confidence remained stable with a decrease of 2% pts in the same period (58% vs 60%).

• The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 1% pt. lower compared to White respondents in the 12 months to June 2023, compared to 8% pts. lower for the same period in the previous year.

Example of activity to increase confidence and satisfaction:

Crime and Public Protection

Victim Closure Document was reviewed at the force Victim and Witnesses Board chaired by ACC Baldwin.  He has agreed that this will now be a force wide form to be used by all commands.  Form has been sent to all SLT to review and feedback.

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 June 2023	Completed Actions to date	Actions not started	Total of Actions per toolkit area
1	0	17	0	17
2	5	26	0	31
3	1	8	0	9
4	2	6	0	8
5	0	5	0	5
6	3	4	0	7
7	0	9	0	9
8	0	11	0	11
9	1	7	0	8
Total	12	93	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 is now considered closed. All actions were started and implemented and are considered business as usual across Essex police.

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

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 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.

The annual Essex Police Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Conference 2023

Following on from the first ‘Towards Excellence’ conference, we reflected on achievements in the last 12 months. Once again, we proudly shared our day with valuable community members and partner agencies. The conference shared our three key themes: Our organisation, Our partners, Our communities. Guest speakers delivered inputs on the Police Race Action Plan along with the characteristics of excellence and equality, diversity and inclusion in policing. The feedback once again confirmed the events success, and the conference will now be an annual event.

Police Race Action Plan training products

The College of Policing (CoP) have developed an hour-long learning package for officers and staff on the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP), which includes material to aid their understanding of the history of policing Black communities, and to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to build trust and confidence with those communities. Learning & Development are in the process of reviewing this package with a view to embedding it within the current curriculum for all officers and staff.  

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 4.95% (completion rate 68.82%), staff by 5.04% (completion rate 69.75%). The completion rate includes ‘prefer not to say.’

Diversity Equality Inclusion Briefing Sessions.

Vernal Scott Essex Police’s D&I Manager delivered DEI Briefing sessions to new recruits, newly promoted Sergeants and Inspectors. These interactive sessions are designed to promote the D&I Strategy, prompt discussion around the nine protected characteristics, 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