IC code
IC codes (identity code) or 6+1 codes are police codes used in the United Kingdom to visually describe the apparent ethnicity of a person.[1][2] They originated in the late 1970s.[3][4]
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.[4] They differ from self-defined ethnicity (SDE, or "18+1") codes, which refer to how a person describes their own ethnicity.[4] 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.[4]
IC codes have been used to record individuals' ethnicities in the Police National Computer.[4][5] They have also been used in the reports on ethnicity in the criminal justice system published annually as required by the Criminal Justice Act 1991.[6]
| Code | Ethnicity[4][7] |
|---|---|
| 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 |
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.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "Justice Matters: Disproportionality" (PDF). Mayor of London – Office for Policing and Crime. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ^ "A Technical Guide to Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System, 2022" (PDF). GOV.UK. 25 January 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2025. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1991 c. 53 (s. 95), retrieved 17 January 2025,
The Secretary of State shall in each year publish such information as he considers expedient for the purpose of [...] 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.
- ^ "Metropolitan Police Service Live Facial Recognition Trials" (PDF). NPL/MPS Research Report. National Physical Laboratory, Metropolitan Police Service. February 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ 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.