Report slams stop and search

3:57pm Thursday 20th May 2004

A report into the Met's use of the stop and search tactic says police are still too racist in using the tactic.

The Metropolitan Police Authority today released a 149-page analysis of stop and search, amid concerns that black people continue to be far more likely to be targeted by officers using the tactic.

The MPA said the Home Office had found that black people were eight times, and Asian people five times, more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

Adding to this, the MPA said police data revealed that this racial gap was worsening, as stop and search rates of black people in London increased nearly a third in 2001 and 2002, and for Asian people by 41 per cent, while for white people the increase was just 8 per cent over the same period.

The MPA's scrutiny panel made a series of recommendations to improve the use of stop and search, saying the tactic had badly damaged relations between police and black people.

Among the recommendations were for the Met to show greater commitment to plans to remove the racial bias in stop and search statistics, and for each borough commander to urgently examine the impact of this bias.

In a statement, the Met said it agreed with the concerns raised by the MPA.

"The negative impact that disproportionality can have on our relationship with all of London's communities must be recognised and we will all work towards preventing it," said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Carole Howlett.

Cecile Wright, chair of the scrutiny panel on the MPA, said the Met had made enormous efforts to improve relations with the community.

"However these efforts need to be accelerated if we are to achieve our ultimate aim to restore all our communities' trust in our police."