Black police officers would be ‘silenced’ by new rules, UK association claims

Police chiefs want to prevent officers of colour from speaking out through guidance changes that would create a “damaging double standard”, the National Black Police Association has alleged.

New draft rules seen by the Guardian aim to stop any public statements “construed to be political” being made by staff associations. The NBPA said that could include statements on stop and search policy, rules on police use of force and even the effects of a future Reform government on policing and race.

The proposed changes come after police chiefs’ efforts to lessen discrimination have been criticised for achieving little or nothing despite years of promises.

The NBPA says it represents 6,000 black and Asian officers and staff across all forces in the UK.

Police chiefs want the new rules to govern staff associations, which includes the NBPA, and those covering religious groupings as well as sexual orientation and women in policing.

The draft guidance says: “All members of the network must … remain impartial, which includes: not making public their views on government policy; not engaging in formal political debate in their network role and not engaging in activities that could be construed to be political.”

Later it says: “Consideration must be made for any written or oral communication made as a representative of the network and how it could impact on the perception of policing by the public.”

Another issue is police chiefs wanting greater protections for officers who use force, which the NBPA fears goes too far.

The draft documents says public statements by groups such as the NBPA “should not bring policing into disrepute and all communications and social media engagement conducted by the network must be consistent with the expected conduct set out for network members and within local force policy”.

Insp Andy George, the president of the NBPA, said his group, which tends to challenge chiefs on key issues, would be silenced while others would not be: “This risks creating a damaging double standard. Police chiefs and the Police Federation are free to speak out against allegations of racism from the community and to praise or criticise the government on policy, yet the NBPA and other minority staff associations would be silenced.

“That runs directly against the very ethos of impartiality and freedom of expression.”

Police chiefs say parts of a report by the policing inspectorate on politics in policing necessitate the changes. Assistant chief constable Jon McAdam, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for staff support networks, said: “These draft operating principles are not targeted at any organisation, or motivated by a desire to stop any group doing anything.

“Staff support networks do an amazing job supporting people across the police workforce. But there is no consistency of governance, scope, and structure across these networks. This has been identified as an issue for several years, including by [His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary] as well as staff networks themselves.

“Earlier this month all national staff support networks were invited to a discussion on these proposals and feedback at the meeting was positive, with a clear sense of direction as we work through the detail. The NPCC portfolio is here to support our networks and engage with them to help them continue their important work.”

The NBPA is also in talks with the Home Office about gaining formal or statutory status. The group says too often the body representing rank-and-file officers, the Police Federation, does a poor job defending black and Asian officers.

Police chiefs in 2020 announced a race action plan that was supposed to address the racial bias that plagues policing. In 2024 the NBPA boycotted the scheme, citing an alleged lack of progress, but it has now re-engaged with it.