IC codes are codes used by the British police in radio communications to describe the apparent ethnicity of a suspect. The codes are based on a police officer's perceived view of an individual's ethnicity based on a visual assessment, as opposed to that individual's self-definition.
In most circumstances where an individual's ethnicity is recorded after spoken contact with police (such as a "Stop and Search" or arrest), police are required to use a different set of codes (self-defined ethnicity codes).
The IC codes are:
- IC1 – White person, northern European type
- IC2 – Mediterranean European/Hispanic
- IC3 – African/Afro-Caribbean person
- IC4 – Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Maldivian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, or any other (South) Asian person
- IC5 – Chinese, Japanese, or South-East Asian person
- IC6 – Arab person
- IC0, IC7 or IC9 – Origin unknown
"IC" itself stands for "Identity Code", so "IC code" is a redundant acronym though still commonly used. The codes are also known as PNC or Phoenix Codes, or the 6+1 system. Street wardens and City Guardians (Westminster City Council), Police community support officers and security guards also use IC Codes on a regular basis.
Famous quotes containing the word codes:
“I cannot help thinking that the menace of Hell makes as many devils as the severe penal codes of inhuman humanity make villains.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)