IC code
IC codes (identity code) or 6+1 codes are police codes used in the United Kingdom to describe the apparent ethnicity of a person.[1] They originated in the late 1970s.[2][3]
IC codes refer to a police officer's visual assessment of the ethnicity of a person, and are used in the quick transmission of basic visual information, such as over radio.[3] They differ from self-defined ethnicity (SDE, or "18+1") codes, which refer to how a person describes their own ethnicity.[3] When recording a person's details (such as in the case of a stop and search or arrest), police are required to ask for and use SDE categories where possible, even if the category chosen does not match the officer's own assessment.[3]
| Code | Ethnicity[3][4] |
|---|---|
| IC1 | White – North European |
| IC2 | White – South European |
| IC3 | Black |
| IC4 | Asian – Indian subcontinent |
| IC5 | Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or other Southeast Asian |
| IC6 | Arab or North African |
| IC9 | Unknown |
The usage of IC codes in relation to individuals is recorded as part of information collected during activities including "Stop and Search", issuing of fixed penalties, arrest, and custody of individuals, and is recorded on a number of police databases.[3][5] This is as required under section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, which states that:
(1) The Secretary of State shall in each year publish such information as he considers expedient for the purpose of—
- (a) enabling persons engaged in the administration of criminal justice to become aware of the financial implications of their decisions;
- (b) facilitating the performance by such persons of their duty to avoid discriminating against any persons on the ground of race or sex or any other improper ground.
— Criminal Justice Act 1991, section 95[6]
The codes are also known as PNC or Phoenix Codes, or the 6+1 system. Other individuals involved in security and law enforcement, such as environmental enforcement officers, street wardens, guardians (Cheltenham), city guardians (Broad Street, Westminster City Council), police community support officers, revenue protection inspectors, security guards and door supervisors, also use IC codes on a regular basis.
Other uses
The IC classification has also been used in scientific research. In 2014, a global forensic database based on the codes was established. It contains the DNA microsatellite (short tandem repeat) profiles of 7,121 individuals from various parts of the world residing or applying to live in the UK and Ireland. The six-population database is used in a forensic setting to ascertain distant relatedness or ancestry according to the fixation index (FST) measure of genetic distance.[7]
See also
References
- ^ "Justice Matters: Disproportionality" (PDF). Mayor of London – Office for Policing and Crime. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ^ Mackie, Lindsay (14 June 1978). "Race causes an initial confusion". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Bowsher, Kevin (2 March 2007). "The code systems used within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to formally record ethnicity". MPA briefing paper. Metropolitan Police Authority. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ "Metropolitan Police Service Live Facial Recognition Trials" (PDF). NPL/MPS Research Report. National Physical Laboratory, Metropolitan Police Service. February 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ FitzGerald, Marian; Sibbitt, Rae (1997). "Ethnic monitoring in police forces: A beginning" (PDF). Home Office Research Study 173. London: Home Office.
- ^ Criminal Justice Act 1991, section 95
- ^ Steele, Christopher D.; Court, Denise Syndercombe; Balding, David J. (November 2014). "Worldwide Fst Estimates Relative to Five Continental-Scale Populations". Annals of Human Genetics. 78 (6): 468–477. doi:10.1111/ahg.12081. PMC 4223938. PMID 26460400.