IC codes (identity code) or 6+1 codes are

police code A police radio code is a brevity code, usually numerical or alphanumerical, used to transmit information between law enforcement over police radio systems in the United States. Examples of police codes include "10 codes" (such as 10-4 for "okay" ...

s used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to visually describe the apparent

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

of a person. They originated in the late 1970s. 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. They differ from self-defined ethnicity (SDE, or "18+1") codes, which refer to how a person describes their own ethnicity. When recording a person's details (such as in the case of a

stop and search Stop and search or Stop and frisk is a term used to describe the powers of the police to search a person, place or object without first making an arrest. Examples in specific jurisdictions include: * in England and Wales * in Scotland * Terry stop ...

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. IC codes have been used to record individuals' ethnicities in the

Police National Computer The Police National Computer (PNC) is a database used by law enforcement organisations across the United Kingdom and other non-law enforcement agencies. Originally developed in the early 1970s, PNC1 went 'live' in 1974, providing UK police for ...

. 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 The Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales, with certain clauses extended to either Northern Ireland or Scotland. The Act enabled the introduction of pr ...

, and in some scientific research.

References

{{reflist Encodings Law enforcement in the United Kingdom

See also

References