# IC code

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/IC_code
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/IC_code.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_code
> Source revision: 1340091780
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**IC codes** (**identity code**) or **6+1 codes** are [police codes used in the United Kingdom](/source/Police_terms_in_the_UK) to visually describe the apparent [ethnicity](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Powers_of_the_police_in_England_and_Wales#Search_without_arrest) 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](/source/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](/source/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

## See also

- [Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom](/source/Classification_of_ethnicity_in_the_United_Kingdom)

## References

1. ["Justice Matters: Disproportionality"](https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mopac_justice_matters_13_march_2018_disproportionality_slides.pdf). Mayor of London – Office for Policing and Crime. Retrieved 8 February 2020.

1. ["A Technical Guide to Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System, 2022"](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b1491bf2718c000dfb1cb2/A_Technical_Guide_to_Ethnicity_and_the_CJS_2022.pdf). *GOV.UK*. 2024-01-25. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250117204418/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b1491bf2718c000dfb1cb2/A_Technical_Guide_to_Ethnicity_and_the_CJS_2022.pdf) 2025-01-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-01-17.

1. Mackie, Lindsay (14 June 1978). ["Race causes an initial confusion"](https://www.theguardian.com/century/1970-1979/Story/0,6051,106880,00.html). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 26 August 2013.

1. Bowsher, Kevin (2 March 2007). ["The code systems used within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to formally record ethnicity"](http://policeauthority.org/metropolitan/publications/briefings/2007/0703/index.html). *MPA briefing paper*. Metropolitan Police Authority. Retrieved 9 October 2014.

1. FitzGerald, Marian & Sibbitt, Rae (1997). ["Ethnic monitoring in police forces: A beginning"](http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors173.pdf). *Home Office Research Study 173*. London: Home Office. [Archived](http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20050301220034/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors173.pdf) 1 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 January 2025.

1. "53" (act). 1991. Retrieved 2025-01-17. 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.

1. Steele, Christopher D.; Court, Denise Syndercombe; Balding, David J. (November 2014). "Worldwide Fst Estimates Relative to Five Continental-Scale Populations". *Annals of Human Genetics*. **78** (6): 468–477. [doi:10.1111/ahg.12081](https://doi.org/10.1111/ahg.12081). [PMC 4223938](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223938). [PMID 26460400](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26460400)

1. ["Metropolitan Police Service Live Facial Recognition Trials"](https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/services/accessing-information/facial-recognition/met-evaluation-report.pdf). *NPL/MPS Research Report*. National Physical Laboratory, Metropolitan Police Service. February 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2024.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [IC code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_code) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_code?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.