Police in England and Wales to get anti-racism training

Police officers in England and Wales will be given mandatory anti-racism training under a new plan to tackle racism, discrimination and bias.

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) wants to recruit more black officers and staff, and improve black people’s confidence in the police.

Confidence levels are about 64% among black communities, compared with an average of 74%.

The NPCC says its Race Action Plan is not about “being woke”.

Police in the UK have been under pressure to address racism since widescale protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis two years ago.

Black people in the UK are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched compared with white people, and five times more likely to be subjected to the use of force, according to Home Office figures from 2021.

It comes as London’s Metropolitan Police is investigating the case of a 14-year-old girl who was “traumatised” by a strip-search by officers.