IC codes (identity code) or 6+1 codes are police codes used in the United Kingdom to visually describe the apparent ethnicity of a person. [1] [2] They originated in the late 1970s. [3] [4]
IC codes refer to a police officer's visual assessment of the ethnicity of a person, and are used in the quick transmission of basic visual information, such as over radio. [4] They differ from self-defined ethnicity (SDE, or "18+1") codes, which refer to how a person describes their own ethnicity. [4] When recording a person's details (such as in the case of a stop and search or arrest), police are required to ask for and use SDE categories where possible, even if the category chosen does not match the officer's own assessment. [4]
IC codes have been used to record individuals' ethnicities in the Police National Computer. [4] [5] They have also been used in the reports on ethnicity in the criminal justice system published annually as required by the Criminal Justice Act 1991, [6] [2] and in some scientific research. [7] [ non-primary source needed ]
Code | Ethnicity [4] [8] |
---|---|
IC1 | White – North European |
IC2 | White – South European |
IC3 | Black |
IC4 | Asian – Indian subcontinent |
IC5 | Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or other Southeast Asian |
IC6 | Arab or North African |
IC9 | Unknown |
The Secretary of State shall in each year publish such information as he considers expedient for the purpose of [...] facilitating the performance by such persons of their duty to avoid discriminating against any persons on the ground of race or sex or any other improper ground.