A police chief has vowed to do more to tackle racism after data revealed ethnic minorities in West Yorkshire were four times more likely to be fined for breaching lockdown rules.
Between March 27 and May 25, the West Yorkshire Police issued 856 fines for breaking lockdown rules. Of those, 420 were issued to white people and 298 were handed to people from ethnic minorities.
Based on this, police issued 7.8 fines per 10,000 people from ethnic minorities – 3.5 times the rate they were given to white people, at 2.2 per 10,000 people.
However, there was a wide variation in the rates at which fines were issued among those from ethnic minority groups.
There were 19 fines given to black people, a rate of 4.4 per 10,000 people, 257 fines given to Asian and Chinese people (9.4 per 10,000), and 11 to people of mixed ethnicity (2.8 per 10,000).
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), which published the analysis, said the make-up of the local population and the number of fines being issued to non-residents may have an impact on the racial disparity.
Areas that are popular with visitors but which have small ethnic minority populations may show a bigger disparity.
Based on where people live, rather than where they were fined, 1227 fines were issued to people from West Yorkshire.
That was at a rate of 3.5 per 10,000 white people, and 11.2 per 10,000 people from ethnic minority backgrounds, 3.2 times higher.
Black and other ethnic minority (BAME) residents of West Yorkshire were 3.5 times more likely to be fined by the police force than white residents, while BAME non-residents were 4.5 times more likely to be fined than white non-residents.
Most people from West Yorkshire were fined in the area with 830 fines, followed by 287 fines in North Yorkshire.
Across England and Wales, 17,039 fines were issued between March 27 and May 25, a rate of 2.7 per 10,000 people.
The NPCC said for context, in the four weeks to 24 May, police recorded 134,188 incidents related to Covid-19.
This includes a wide range of incidents such as officers proactively advising people, responding to alleged breaches of the regulations, and pandemic-related crime.
It doesn’t include all interactions where officers may have spoken to members of the public about health regulations.
The rate at which BAME people were fined was 1.6 times higher than for white people. Within that, the disparity was higher for Asian and black people (both 1.8 times higher than white people), while people from mixed ethnic groups experienced a rate 1.2 times higher.
Young men, aged 18-34, from BAME backgrounds were overrepresented by around twice the rate of young white men in the same age-groups.
In contrast, while young women, aged 18-24, from a white background had similar levels of representation among those issued with FPNs as their representation in the general population, women of the same age from a BAME background were slightly under-represented.
West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Tim Kingsman said: “Throughout this unprecedented time, we have followed the NPCC 4E approach of engage, explain and encourage to seek adherence to the regulations in order to minimise the spread of the disease and ease the burden on the NHS. If these steps were ineffective then enforcement has been an action of last resort to keep the public safe from the spread of Coronavirus.
“Our policing style has been consistent and we have continued to review and refine our approach, reiterating the approach with our workforce constantly.
“We understand the concerns that people from BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) backgrounds are overrepresented in this data nationwide and we know there is more work to be done to address this disparity.
“As with all of our policing powers, officers and staff are accountable for their behaviour. They are expected to act fairly and to utilise their body-worn video camera. It is important to note that the number of fixed penalty notices issued in comparison to the number of interactions and calls for service received from members of the public reporting breaches of the regulations is small.
"These Fixed Penalty Notices have been subject to robust scrutiny, and we will continue to work with our independent scrutiny panels to challenge our approach. We recognise we must continually develop our policing style in close partnership with our communities and regularly speak with Independent Advisory Groups to encourage positive change.
“We will also continue to work with the National Police Chiefs Council and other police forces around the country to examine the issues across the board.
"West Yorkshire Police, like all other police forces, is subject to regular independent assessment by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The results of this are published and the force is held to account by the Police and Crime Commissioner and the wider public. We welcome our next inspection to understand the areas where we need to improve.
"We do, and will continue, to always tackle bias, racism or discrimination wherever we find it.”
