Black people in Bedfordshire more than three times as likely to experience 'forceful policing' as white people

Black people are more than three times as likely to experience forceful tactics by police in Bedfordshire as white people, new figures suggest.

The Race Equality Foundation said the data exposes "systemic racism and bias in policing that demands immediate action", and called for scrutiny of racial profiling and unfair police practices.

The National Police Chiefs Council said it remains committed to the Police Race Action Plan, which aims to build "an inclusive, anti-racist organisation" and address black people's negative policing experiences.

Home Office figures show Bedfordshire Police used forceful tactics, including restraint, using a conducted energy device, such as a Taser, or other equipment 1,543 times against black people and 5,484 times against white people in the year to March.

More than one tactic can be used in one incident, and one person can be involved in multiple incidents throughout the year.

Census figures from 2021 estimate 39,601 black people and 507,517 white people live in the Bedfordshire area.

It means police used a forceful approach approximately 39 times per 1,000 black people, compared to just 11 per 1,000 white people, suggesting black people were 3.6 times more likely to experience such tactics.

Superintendent Ian Taylor from Bedfordshire Police said: “It is a sad fact that Black communities still face disproportionately poor outcomes in far too many aspects of policing, including use of force.

“While this is true of policing across the country, with our local statistics broadly similar to the national picture, there is a wealth of work underway in Bedfordshire to better understand this disproportionately and build trust and confidence with our local Black communities.

“Improving Policing for Black People in Bedfordshire is our flagship plan which aims to deliver improvements around all aspects of disproportionately, from making our workforce more representative and culturally intelligent through to specific outreach work across the county.

“This includes our Regeneration Roadshow events we have held with several schools listening to their lived experiences and helping to shape this vitally important plan.”

He added: “Regarding use of force, which includes the use of taser, as well as an internal panel which scrutinises how these powers are used, we have a specific community scrutiny panel in place which regularly reviews disproportionality and other statistics around use of force, as well as randomly selected body worn video where our officers have used forceful tactics.

Across England and Wales, a black person was 3.4 times more likely to experience forceful policing than a white person.

Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, said the higher prevalence of forceful policing against black people is "incredibly troubling".

He added: "Today’s data reveals systemic racism and bias in policing that demands immediate action. We have to scrutinise why black people face higher rates of police encounters and use of force.

"Racial profiling and unfair police practices need to be examined and addressed. If bold steps aren't taken to correct this racial inequality, it would be a moral failure and breach of the consent and trust placed in policing."

A total of 960,000 forceful tactics were used by police nationally in 2022-23 – up seven per cent from 890,000 the year before. Of these, 9,106 were conducted by Bedfordshire Police.