Policing disproportionality [Ref 1.48]

Policing Disproportionality builds on previous research examining persistent ethnic and racial inequalities in policing and the limitations of existing approaches to addressing them. Despite sustained policy attention and anti-racism initiatives, disproportionality remains evident in areas such as stop and search, undermining perceptions of fairness, police legitimacy and public trust.

The project seeks to move beyond approaches focused primarily on individual behaviour and prejudice by examining the structural and organisational processes through which disproportionality may be produced and sustained. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research will explore patterns in policing activity alongside factors such as tasking, deployment, specialist roles and socio-economic deprivation.

Working collaboratively with police partners and communities, the project aims to develop and test evidence-led approaches to reducing ethnic disproportionality, particularly in stop and search and use of force. The longer-term ambition is to establish a scalable, evidence-based model that can inform organisational and operational change across policing nationally.