𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Police forces have been accused of spending more than half a billion pounds on their “obsession” with diversity schemes instead of protecting crime victims.

Cops forked out at least £631 million on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) activities over the last six years, a report by Policy Exchange estimated.

This could have instead funded around an additional 2,000 frontline police officers every year, the think tank said.

The report’s author warned “the fundamental legitimacy of British policing is at stake”.

David Spencer, a former Metropolitan Police detective chief inspector, said: “Policy Exchange today reveals the astonishing cost of the police’s DEI obsession – at least £631 million over the last six years.

“Police forces have sought to entrench the radical ideology of ‘anti-racism’ into British policing. In doing so some police chiefs have set policing against its own foundational principle – to act ‘without fear or favour’.

“This controversial policy-making was driven not by the elected Government of the day nor by Parliament; but was developed by police chiefs behind closed doors. The result is more than half a billion pounds of public money diverted away from the fight against crime. This is quite simply wrong.

“The changes necessary are so substantial that the Home Secretary must be involved – legislating where necessary. It is a modern-day tragedy that many of our chief constables simply cannot be trusted to resolve this alone. It’s time to restore the principle of ‘equality before the law’ in policing. Nothing less than the fundamental legitimacy of British policing is at stake.”
Some £431 million has been spent on the manpower costs of DEI training, £177 million on internal posts with a DEI component and £23 million on external training and consultancy.

This sum would have paid for approximately 8.3 million hours of frontline operational policing on priorities such as knife crime, violence against women and girls, burglary, robbery and shoplifting.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is a shocking waste of taxpayers’ money and completely the wrong priority when the public rightly want to see more police on the streets tackling the knife crime, burglary and shoplifting we see every day.

“Equality under the law is what matters. That is why Kemi [Badenoch] has announced our integration commission to end this nonsense and ensure we put an end to identity politics in the state, including in policing, once and for all.”

Policy Exchange assessed the sums spent on DEI in the UK the years following the 2020 murder of unarmed black man George Floyd by a white cop Derek Chauvin in the United States.

In response to the killing, the UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing published a national “Police Race Action Plan” with 73% of UK police forces going on to create their own local versions.

Policy Exchange found nearly nine in 10 (87%) forces have made an “anti-racist” commitment or contain other “anti-racist” objectives or activities within their plans, reducing the ability of frontline operational police officers to be impartial investigators.
The think tank warned this raises concerns that the principle of “equality before the law” has been “eroded”.

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said: “This report appears to show the police have completely lost the plot. The public don’t want police officers sitting through diversity lectures, they want them catching criminals. Reform UK will scrap every DEI post, and put that money straight back onto the front line.”

The murder of teenager Henry Nowak has brought DEI in policing back into the spotlight after it emerged Nowak, 18, was handcuffed as he lay dying after being stabbed by killer Vickrum Digwa.

The decision by attending officers to handcuff the teenager and treat Digwa as a victim led to allegations of an anti-white bias within policing in the UK.

Chief constable Rachel Kearton, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s DEI committee, said: “Recent reviews and media coverage have rightly shone a spotlight on shortcomings in the standards and culture within policing, including issues that have disproportionately affected different communities over time.

“Understanding the communities we serve is essential to strengthening neighbourhood policing, building trust, and maintaining the legitimacy needed to police by consent. Improving culture and inclusion is not separate from frontline delivery, it underpins it. Investment in this area also supports forces in meeting their legal responsibilities.

“The funding allocated to this work represents a very small proportion of the overall multi-billion pound policing budget but it does play an important role in making sure our service is fair, effective, and trusted by all communities.

“Some of the issues that most impact public confidence relate to culture and standards. That is why taking action to address them is so important.

“We are clear that such work must be based on information and facts and deliver real impact. We will continue to monitor outcomes closely, ensure value for money, and focus investment on initiatives that drive meaningful, measurable progress in fairness, and trust.”

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.