Three police forces allow gender-fluid officers multiple warrant cards

Police officers who identify as being gender-fluid have been issued with both male and female warrant cards, it has emerged.

The identification documents are vital for Norfolk officers as they must be shown when certain powers are carried out – such as stop and search.

But now officers who say their gender identity is not fixed and may change over time have been handed two warrant cards so they can identify as a man one day and a woman the next.

Guidance for officers was updated after the Supreme Court ruled in a landmark case that the references to a man or woman in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a person’s biological sex at birth.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said an officer carrying out a thorough search – which is defined as where intimate body parts are exposed – should be carried out by officers of the same sex.

Officials at Norfolk Police are reviewing its policies in the wake of the recent judgments.

A spokeswoman for the force said: “Any arrangements relating to warrant cards or identification documents are subject to appropriate security controls and governance processes.”

Norfolk Police is among the three forces in the country which has allowed its officers to be issued with male and female identity cards.

Leicestershire Police and Suffolk Police – with which Norfolk Constabulary shares some of its resources – are the other forces to have issued male and female identity cards to officers, according to a Freedom of Information request by The Telegraph.

Norfolk and Suffolk Police’s trans equality at work policy states transitioning individuals or gender-fluid officers will be able to specifically request dual identity cards, should they wish.

It adds: “If an individual does transition fully to their chosen gender then they must relinquish their dual cards so that a single card can be issued in their chosen identity.”

Gender-fluid describes a person’s identity which is not fixed and may change between genders.

But it was established in May that the force may have to tear up some of its policy after guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was published.

This outlined that single-sex spaces – such as changing rooms – must be used based on biological sex, following on from the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Police forces should not be allowing officers to jump from one gender to the next whenever they feel like it. This risks undermining public trust in policing.”

None of the forces confirmed whether they currently have officers carrying multiple warrant cards.