What is the Race & Ethnicity Action Plan?
The Race & Ethnicity Action Plan sets out our clear commitment to building a service that is fair, inclusive, and trusted by everyone across Northern Ireland. It’s a five-year programme of work that focuses on how we recruit, develop, and support our people; how we deliver policing fairly and professionally; and how we build stronger relationships with all communities, particularly those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The plan sets out five headline commitment statements as ambitions for the service to achieve:
- We are committed to being an anti-racist Police Service.
- We are committed to people from an ethnic minority background feeling safe, valued by and engaged in policing.
- We are committed to officers and staff from an ethnic minority background feeling safe, valued, and who are treated fairly and equally in the workplace.
- We are committed to being a Police Service that respects and is trusted by people from ethnic minority communities.
- We are a Police Service committed to excellence in diversity, equality, representation and inclusivity.
The progress required to realise success in our commitments is based around five key workstreams:
- Internal Culture and Inclusivity
- Community Engagement and Relations
- Professionalism, Powers, and Policies
- Protection, Partnership, and Justice
- Performance and Accountability
Each of these areas sets out specific, practical commitments to drive real change — and every officer and member of staff has a role to play.
Race and Ethnicity Action Plan Consultation
In October 2024, the Police Service of Northern Ireland undertook an eight-week public consultation for the ‘Race and Ethnicity Action Plan - Equality in Action, Delivering Effective and Trusted Policing for Ethnic Minority Communities, Officers and Staff’.
Feedback was received from a diverse range of individuals, stakeholders and partners via a number of methods including REaL events, surveys and online/postal returns. The feedback was analysed and used to shape the final version of the Race & Ethnicity Action Plan to ensure it represented the needs and concerns of our communities and those with lived experience of racial and ethnic inequality.
A Race and Ethnicity Action Plan Consultation Report outlining the full details of the consultation process, feedback received and resulting changes has been published.
Race and Ethnicity Action Plan Publication
It is anticipated that the final Race & Ethnicity Action Plan will be published in summer 2025.