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, a report published today has found.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said that
despite having more data on the use of force and stop and search,
police forces are still unable to explain why these powers are
used disproportionately based on ethnicity.
The inspectorate said that over 35
years since the introduction of stop and search, the police still
cannot explain why these powers are used disproportionately.
HMICFRS found that the most common reason given for the use of
these powers is due to suspected drug possession. This unfairness
risks further reducing public trust in the police and could lead
to more Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people being drawn into
the criminal justice system.
As a result, the inspectorate is
calling on police leaders to consider whether focusing stop and
search on tackling drug possession is an effective use of these
powers.
HMICFRS also called for police forces
to analyse their data and either explain, with evidence, the
reasons for disproportionality in stop and search and use of
force, or take clear action to address it.
HM Inspector of Constabulary
Wendy Williams said:
“The tragic killing of George Floyd
in America in early 2020, and subsequent protests in the UK and
globally, have highlighted once again the significant impact that
police interaction can have – particularly on Black, Asian and
Minority Ethnic, communities.
“The public rightly expects the
police to protect them by using their powers in an effective and
fair manner. Unfair use of powers can be counter-productive if it
leads people to think it is acceptable to not comply with the
law. It may also make people unwilling to report when they are
the victim of crime or come forward as witnesses.
“Police forces must analyse their
data and either explain, with evidence, the reasons for
disproportionality, or take clear action to address it. The
police must be able to show the public that their use of these
powers is fair, lawful and appropriate, or they risk losing the
trust of the communities they serve.
“We know that the proportion of stop
and searches that actually find drugs is very low, and the
disproportionate use of these powers on BAME people is having a
damaging impact on public trust.
“We are therefore calling on police
leaders to consider if focusing stop and search on drugs
possession is an effective use of these powers, and to better
explain the reasons for disproportionality. It is clear that now
is the time to have an evidence-based national debate.”
ENDS
Notes to
editors:
-
This
report is based on:
-
-
Published national and
force-level data on stop and search and on the use of force
from 2019/20;
-
The findings of HMICFRS’s
2018/19 Integrated PEEL Assessments covering police
effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy; and
-
The results of a review of a
representative sample of 9,378stop and search records from 2019, which
looked at the reasonableness and strength of recorded
grounds, motivations for stop and search, and whether drugs
searches involved a suspicion of possession or
supply.
-
Home Office data from 2019-20 shows
that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people were over four
times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people
– with the figure almost nine times higher for black people
specifically. Black people were also over 5.5 times more likely
to have force used on them than white people.
-
Disproportionality refers to a
group’s representation in a particular category that differs
substantially from the representation of others in that
category. In the context of this report, disproportionality
indicates that the proportion of searches carried out on people
of different ethnicities deviates from the proportion of those
ethnic groups living in an area.
