Top officer says anti-racism guidance has fuelled myth of two-tier policing

Sir Stephen Watson said forces should be ‘a little less timid about making sure we emphasise our impartiality’. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

Policing in Britain has “adopted the language of activism” and official guidance has “over-corrected” to combat accusations of racism, one of the UK’s most senior officers has said.

Sir Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester police, said he did not believe that “two-tier policing” existed or that forces were biased against white people.