Chief constables under pressure to scrap ‘two-tier’ commitment to treating white people differently to other races amid fury at police arrest of stabbed Henry Nowak

Police chiefs are facing demands to rescind their ‘two-step’ pledge to treat white people differently than ethnic minorities.

Under the so-called Anti-Racism Pledge published last year, police leaders say ‘racial equality’ should not mean ‘treating everyone the same or being colour-blind’.

Instead, they say their aim is to produce ‘equity in police outcomes’ by ending racial disparities in ‘the likelihood of people falling into crime’.

The pledge is part of the multi-million pound Race to Police Action Plan, created in the UK “to increase confidence and trust in policing among Black communities” following the killing of George Floyd in America.

But the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing professional body are under pressure to rescind their commitment amid anger over the treatment of Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed on his deathbed after his killer mistakenly told officers he was the victim of racism.

In the House of Commons, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the pledge ‘encourages police forces to reverse the same arrest rates by treating different ethnic groups differently, even though the disturbing rates are not the same’.

He told MPs: ‘Let this sink in for a moment: an official police document actually says people should be treated differently based on the color of their skin.

‘The dangerous ideology of so-called anti-racism, which says people should be treated differently based on their race, is wrong and must end. The police have allowed extremist activists to hijack policy-making processes, and that’s where the police are at. This has no place in policing. It has no place anywhere.”

He called on Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood to intervene and renege on the commitment; he said it was both dangerous and “morally wrong.”

He replied: ‘It is important that the police maintain the trust of all the communities they police, and I think he would agree that there is a history and context here around racism and the police.

‘Whatever changes are made, it is important that no one over-corrects or course-corrects in a way that makes us citizens no longer equal before the law.’

Sources close to the Home Secretary admitted the police’s anti-racism pledge was ‘clumsy’.

‘The NPCC is reviewing the wording properly to ensure there is no ambiguity, so everyone is equal before the law,’ a source said.

NPCC chairman Gavin Stephens said: ‘We listen to legitimate concerns about how some of these commitments have been worded or worded and that we can and will make changes where necessary, but this should not detract from the intention, which is to improve the quality of policing.’

The NPCC also said the Police Racing Action Plan had been ‘downsized to a much smaller national team this year’ and that the budget for the current financial year is £387,000, down from £1.3 million last year.

Reform UK has promised to ban Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (EDI) training as well as police race action plans as part of the ‘Equal Treatment Act’ if it wins the next election.

The party’s home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, said: ‘Henry Nowak’s tragic death is a horrific example of two-tiered policing in Britain. The racism charge was treated more seriously than the stabbing charge.

‘This is a direct result of police initiatives such as the Hampshire Police Racing Action Plan, which trains officers on this issue. ‘A Reform government will pass the Equal Treatment Act which will end two-tier policing altogether.’

Downing Street insisted yesterday that there is ‘no such thing as two-tier policing’.

But former Scotland Yard officer and Government adviser Rory Geoghegan said: ‘No10 must get used to its ‘commitment to racial equality’. He specifically calls on police officers to treat people differently based on the color of their skin. ‘He must withdraw.’