Norfolk police are allowing detainees to choose their gender, leading to concerns that crime statistics will be distorted. Norfolk Constabulary confirmed that “in most cases” the force still recorded the self-identified gender of suspects, despite a review last year saying police forces should collect data on biological sex. Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at the sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, commented: “It is outrageous that Norfolk Constabulary is continuing with this offensive and misleading practice several years after campaigners first raised the alarm on police recording men as women.” A spokesman for Norfolk Constabulary said: “We will always connect an alias on the record even if we record self-defined gender.”
