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27
May
North Yorkshire Police does not operate 'two-tier policing', says chief constable
North Yorkshire Police does not operate “two-tier policing”, the force’s chief constable has said.
Tim Forber was responding to a public question at an online meeting on neighbourhood policing, which asked whether the force agreed with recent media reports over “two levels of justice”.
The reports refer to concerns over planned national sentencing guidelines, which would have told judges to seek extra information before deciding how to punish offenders from certain minority groups. The guidance has since been abandoned.
However, such claims have also been made about policing, known as “two-tier policing”, which were prominent during the summer riots last year and claimed that police officers treated white protesters more harshly than others.
Mr Forber sought to quash any concerns over suggestions that the force treat some people differently to others.
He said:
We don’t do two-tier policing and I definitely don’t do two-tier policing. We exercise the law fairly and independently. As you know, I have complete unfettered operational independence.
It’s me and my officers who decide what gets investigated and where we target our resources and we do it according to risk, threat and harm. I make sure I deliver the strategic policing requirements and I make sure I have regard for the police and crime plan.
I talk a lot about policing by consent, that is absolutely underpinned by exercising the law fairly and transparently. It's what we will continue to do.
A parliamentary report was published into claims that officers treated protesters differently to others during the 2024 riots in April.
The Home Affairs Committee, which produced the report, said the police response to the disorder last summer was “entirely appropriate”.
It added that claims of “two-tier policing” were “baseless” and described such suggestions as “disgraceful”.
The report said:
This was not protest. Those participating in disorder were not policed more strongly because of their supposed political views but because they were throwing missiles, assaulting police officers and committing arson.
It was disgraceful to see the police officers who bore the brunt of this violence being undermined by baseless claims of ‘two-tier policing’.
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