Norfolk Police criticised over inaccurate recording of suspects’ sex

Norfolk Constabulary has faced strong criticism for recording suspects’ preferred gender in official statistics.

Women’s rights activists have accused the police force of putting “ideology over accuracy” and for skewing official statistics with its policy to, “in most cases”, record self-identified gender, not biological sex.

Last April, the Supreme Court ruled that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refers to biological sex. Baroness Falkner of Margravine, who chaired the EHRC, urged organisations to immediately update their guidance or risk legal action.

Scandalous

Ermine Amies, spokeswoman for the Women’s Rights Network, called the policy “scandalous” and accused the constabulary of “actively misleading the public they serve”.

She stated: “Our constabulary must revert to recording sex to restore trust, accuracy and compliance with UK law, with self-ID and other data recorded separately as relevant.”

Director of Advocacy at women’s rights charity Sex Matters, Helen Joyce, said: “The recording of trans-identifying male criminals as female is one of the most destructive consequences of gender ideology.

“Men commit far more crimes than women, especially violent and sexual crimes, meaning that even a small number of men recorded as female seriously skews crime statistics.”

Policy decisions

A spokesman for Norfolk Constabulary said: “On all custody records there is provision to record sex at birth and self-defined sex for detainees.”

He added: “The policy, which is similar to many other forces, will remain as we wait for additional guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and National Police Chiefs’ Council.

“We adhere to national guidance set by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in relation to custody searches involving transgender suspects and officers. All our cells can be used by persons of any sex.”