Policing
The latest (2023) Stop and Search and Arrest trends
Analysis of the stop and search and arrest figures for 2022/23
27th September 2023
Menu
Tags are keywords. I put tags on every post to help you find the content you want. Tags may be people (Dominic Raab, say), organisations (The Howard League, PRT), themes (women offenders, homelessness) or specific items (heroin, racial disparity, ROTL). If you’re looking to research a particular issue, they can be invaluable.
Analysis of the stop and search and arrest figures for 2022/23
Crest Advisory report on the perspectives of Black children on policing and Stop and Search.
Police forces must explain the disproportionate use of police powers such as stop and search and use of force on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people or risk losing the trust of the communities they serve
Black people are 9 times more likely to be stopped and searched than whites. The Criminal Justice Alliance urges community scrutiny.
StopWatch report: constant searching of ‘gang nominals’ is an intrusive form of surveillance that directly impacts on the trust and confidence young people have toward the police.
Criminal Justice Alliance research finds number of stop and searches down but proportion targeted at young BAME men has increased again.
New app from Y-STOP enables people stopped by the police to record the interaction on their phone and submit information securely.
Overall, the decreasing use of Stop and Search (and the increasing proportion of stops resulting in arrests) will be seen as very positive developments by most commentators. The disproportionate use of Stop and Search against Black communities remains an issue, although some will point to higher arrest rates as justification (although we really need to see the outcomes of those arrests to make a more informed judgement).
Black people are subject to court proceedings for drug possession offences 4.5 times the rate of whites; are found guilty of this offence at 4.5 times the rate; and are subject to immediate custody at a rate of 5 times that of white people
Y-STOP recently publicised a useful infographic showing information about the number of young people under 18 stopped and searched in the year up to March 2014. Just 11% of these stops led to arrests and the Metropolitan Police carried out 39% of all stop and searches on young people.
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has acknowledged openly that police use of Stop and Search remains problematic. Official data from the Home Office last year revealed that Black people aged 10 years or older were SIX times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white peers.
Black people aged 10 years and older were six times more likely than White people to be stopped and searched. Asian or Mixed race people were twice as likely to be stopped and searched compared to White people. The same inequalities can be seen in the arrest statistics where Black people are three times more likely and Mixed race people twice as likely as White or Asian people to be arrested.
