The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) says the police will be encouraged to reveal the ethnicity and nationality of the suspects accused in high-profile and sensitive investigation under the new guidance.
It is expected that the change will reduce the risk for public safety where there is a high level of misinformation about an event or in matters of significant public interest.
The NPCC said that the decisions to issue such information will be with the police forces, comprehensive legal and moral views will also be considered.
It comes after a series of high-profile cases including two men, informed the Afghan shelter seekers, The alleged rape of a 12 -year -old in Warvikashire was accused.
Welcoming the new guidance, a home office spokesperson said: “The public trust requires transparency and stability from the officers who serve them.”
Guidance, which comes in immediate effect, is part of the comprehensive review of the professional practice of the college of policing for media relations.
The NPCC said that the guidance would again confirm that it was not the responsibility of the police to verify the immigration situation of a suspect.
“This is to decide for the home office whether it is appropriate in all circumstances to confirm the immigration situation,” the council said.
Home Secretary Yitvite Cooper told the BBC last week that there should be there “More transparency in cases” On the background of suspects.
The NPCC stated that the purpose of new guidance is to ensure that policing was more consistent, fair and transparent, as well as addressing potential wrong and disintegration.
The council said that this change was in the recognition of public anxiety and was ensured that police processes were “fit for purpose of rapid information proliferation”.
Before 2012, the police forces decided what information should be given to the media on the basis of the case-case.
But after Lord Leaveson published his report in the morality of the press, the police force became very cautious about what they released.
As it stands, there is nothing under the guidance of the college of policing on media relations that prevents the police from giving information about nationalism, asylum status or even a person who has been charged.
However, there is nothing that especially mentions them or that is why the information issued to the media comes to a large extent at the discretion of the police force. Therefore, very different measures have been taken in recent cases.
In May, when a car declined the crowd to win the Liverpool FC’s lovership title, the Mercyssed police were in a hurry to find out that the arrested person was white and British, so that rumors of a terrorist attack in the public interest could be reduced.
Conversely, the forces decided not to release information about Axal Rudkubana – that person went to jail for killing Alice Anger, Nine, Babe King, Six, and Elsey dot Stancomb, seven, which was in Southport in the last summer – allowed false information to spread.
That misconception was held at least partially responsible for riots in England and North Ireland between 30 July and 5 August 2024.
Referring to the riots, NPCC Lead for Communications and Media, Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya described it as the “real -world results” of the police issued information in the public domain.
He said: “We have to ensure that our procedures are fit for purpose in the era of social media speculation and where information can travel incredibly in a wide range of channels.”
He said that “being fair, consistent and transparent, we can improve trust in policing”.
Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, CEO of College of Polling, said that interim guidance will “bring continuity” and that “information can be released for all ethnicities and nationalities when it meets the correct norms.”
Guidance has been developed after consultation with Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) and home office and the college of policing will update its current authorized professional practice for media relations later this year.
The home office spokesperson said: “The public, and the police emphasize themselves, when and how information is released, they want more clarity on it and may need to be withdrawn the legitimate and compelling reasons.
“Home Office will support the effort by authorizing the release of relevant immigration information in future matters where it is appropriate to do so, and where the police have requested it. All cases will definitely take care of consultation with the police and CPS.
“The government also told the Law Commission at the end of February that it can be publicly stated before a test to speed up elements of its reviews around the law of contempt in relation to it.”
