The Institute of Policing, Staffordshire University welcomes you to ICYou, a research journal dedicated to Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in British policing.

D&I has been a longstanding and often contentious debate for British policing. A service that was once imagined as the privilege of white, heterosexual, middle class, middle-aged and able-bodied men is mercifully a relic of policing’s history; arguably unrecognisable to many who join the service today. This change has been the product of a protracted and continual struggle for equality by minority groups, supported by aspects of both police and political leadership, whose combined efforts over the decades have sought to make the service more inclusive, equitable and accountable. But despite these efforts and developments in accountability, the British police service remains beset with claims of inequality and injustice, the question is why?

ICYou has been developed to engage with the ‘why’. It is a dedicated platform for Academics, Pracademics and Policing Practitioners to share critical, evidence-based research, reflection and best practice on all matters D&I related. ICYou endeavours to mainstream the debate on D&I in British policing through a focused online journal that invites discussion and stokes debate.

What’s in a name?

The journal title, ICYou, is derived from how the British police service has conventionally categorised race; by Identity Code (IC). ICYou pushes back at the compartmentalisation of identities into neat categories. It compels its readership and those with responsibility for a strategic focus on organisational D&I to see YOU, the individual behind an identity code who is an embodiment of multiple realities, identities and intersectionalities. Only by doing so can British policing, in its broadest sense, become more progressive, inclusive, equitable and representative of the communities it serves.