Police abuse of stop and search powers was one of the biggest grievances of young people flagged up in the aftermath of the English Riots during summer 2011.
As a result between October 2012 and April 2013 an investigation by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) was launched into the 43 Police forces of England and Wales to understand why ‘police use of stop and search powers is too often ineffective in tackling crime and procedurally incorrect, thereby threatening the legitimacy of the police’.
The resulting “Stop and Search Powers: Are the police using them effectively and fairly?” report that was published revealed several startling facts. Three of the main ones were;
1. “Over a million stop and search encounters have been recorded every year since 2006; but only 9% of these led to an arrest in 2011/12. Statistics also showed that members of [African] and minority ethnic groups were stopped and searched more than [European] people”
2. “The percentage of occasions on which the stolen or prohibited item searched for is found does, however, provide an indicative measure of the strength of the grounds for suspicion; but only seven of the 43 forces currently record how often these items are discovered”
3. “Most officers have not received any training in the use of stop and search powers since they joined the service. Only 21 forces provided any form of refresher training, and in many of those the training was delivered by e-learning packages. Those forces which had made significant investments in training in the use of stop and search powers had done so because of external pressure from oversight bodies, such as the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)”
The Ligali Organisation has formally responded to the governments public consultation on the issue whilst also challenging the abuse of Section 60 and Section 44 powers that leads to young people being stopped based solely on ethnicity and appearance.
Toyin Agbetu said “With a 9% arrest rate after each stop, no training on the issue beyond rookie level and no collection of data storing the results of each search it is obvious that rank and file police officers cannot be trusted with this power.”
The solution he proposes is innovative.
“I believe there should be specially trained officers who are licensed and hold the responsibility of supervising and recording stop encounters, storing time stamped details of any illicit items found (or not) and capturing the police officers rationale for grounds of suspicion at the time of the incident, prior to the search. This is essential if stop and search is to effectively serve as a crime reduction tool. At the moment, the police are seen by many as acting without public consent. This will continue to be the case as long as officers who abuse the power are not adequately being held to account”.
The Home Office has extended its public consultation on police use of stop and search until 24 September 2013.
External Links
Stop and search consultationStop and searchStop and Search Consultation: Online PollStop WatchTerror stop and search police statistics
Activist calls for investigation into police stop and search
As a result between October 2012 and April 2013 an investigation by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) was launched into the 43 Police forces of England and Wales to understand why ‘police use of stop and search powers is too often ineffective in tackling crime and procedurally incorrect, thereby threatening the legitimacy of the police’.
Police abuse Sec 60 and Sec 44 terror legislation
Policing without consent
The resulting “Stop and Search Powers: Are the police using them effectively and fairly?” report that was published revealed several startling facts. Three of the main ones were;1. “Over a million stop and search encounters have been recorded every year since 2006; but only 9% of these led to an arrest in 2011/12. Statistics also showed that members of [African] and minority ethnic groups were stopped and searched more than [European] people”
2. “The percentage of occasions on which the stolen or prohibited item searched for is found does, however, provide an indicative measure of the strength of the grounds for suspicion; but only seven of the 43 forces currently record how often these items are discovered”
3. “Most officers have not received any training in the use of stop and search powers since they joined the service. Only 21 forces provided any form of refresher training, and in many of those the training was delivered by e-learning packages. Those forces which had made significant investments in training in the use of stop and search powers had done so because of external pressure from oversight bodies, such as the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)”
The Ligali Organisation has formally responded to the governments public consultation on the issue whilst also challenging the abuse of Section 60 and Section 44 powers that leads to young people being stopped based solely on ethnicity and appearance.
Toyin Agbetu said “With a 9% arrest rate after each stop, no training on the issue beyond rookie level and no collection of data storing the results of each search it is obvious that rank and file police officers cannot be trusted with this power.”
The solution he proposes is innovative.
“I believe there should be specially trained officers who are licensed and hold the responsibility of supervising and recording stop encounters, storing time stamped details of any illicit items found (or not) and capturing the police officers rationale for grounds of suspicion at the time of the incident, prior to the search. This is essential if stop and search is to effectively serve as a crime reduction tool. At the moment, the police are seen by many as acting without public consent. This will continue to be the case as long as officers who abuse the power are not adequately being held to account”.
The Home Office has extended its public consultation on police use of stop and search until 24 September 2013.
Toyin Agbetu
External Links
Stop and search consultationStop and searchStop and Search Consultation: Online PollStop WatchTerror stop and search police statistics
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Activist calls for investigation into police stop and search
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Should stop and search powers be restricted to officers who have been specially trained and are licensed to carry out the operation?Click here to speak out and share your perspective on this article.
With a 9% arrest rate after each stop, no training on the issue beyond rookie level and no collection of data storing the results of each search it is obvious that rank and file police officers cannot be trusted with this power.
Toyin Agbetu, Ligali Organisation
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