Interim response to MPS draft guide to stop and search

Report 8
Date: 28 November 2000
By: Clerk

A. Summary

This paper is presented to inform members of the interim response to the MPS Guide to Stop and Search that was made by officers and to seek comments on the draft in order to make a formal response to the MPS.

B. Supporting information

1. The draft MPS background Guide to the use of stop and search was considered by the October meeting of the CDO Committee. The report invited the Authority to make a written response by 3 November 2000. As Officers were unable to seek members’ comments on the paper in the timescale required by the MPS, they have drafted an interim response, following consultation with the Home Office, the GLA and some PCCG’s. The interim response is see Appendix 1 and was submitted to the MPS on 13 November. It clearly indicates that, once the CDO Committee have had the opportunity to review this response at it’s meeting on 28 October 2000, a formal response from the MPA would be forwarded to the MPS.

2. It is recognised that this is a highly sensitive and difficult subject and the CDO Committee may decide to report to the full Authority on 14 December 2000, before agreeing its response to the MPS. The MPS draft guide to stop and search see Appendix 2 for ease of reference.

Principles governing stop and search

3. The draft MPS Guide outlines the MPS’s key proposed principles for governing the use of stop and search and highlights the research findings that support the use of stops and searches including the Home Office research that shows that a person stopped is more likely to be satisfied if they are:

• treated with respect;
• dealt with politely; and
• given an explanation for the search.

Summary of MPA interim response

4. The MPA’s interim response aimed to address the broad thrust of the paper, rather that deal with each point that the guide covers. The response highlights and deals with the following points is some detail:

• the MPA applauds the MPS’s eagerness to issue guidance to those that have prime responsibility for stops and searches;
• there is varying evidence on the effectiveness of stop and search as a method of crime detection and prevention;
• whilst there is some support for police stops and searches, the public perceive that the cost to local communities caused by their current use (eg: in terms of aggravation, distrust and resentment) outweighs their potential value (eg: finding drugs, weapons, or stolen items);
• the MPA agrees with the statement I the guide, backed up by extensive research that ‘used properly, stop and search can increase community confidence in police and make a positive contribution to reducing the fear of crime’;
• the disproportionate use of stop and search against members of ethnic minorities, particularly black people, continues to be a major concern for the MPA;
• the draft guide proposes that Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report be supported and therefore that a record be made of all police stops of members of the public, not just searches. The MPS is asked to inform the MPA whether it intends to implement Recommendation 61 in full, and if not, to provide a rationale for not doing so;
• we noted however the Home Office view that full implementation of recording may prove counter productive and labour intensive; and
• at the CDO Committee meeting on 26 October, members raised specific concerns about the length of time that Officers could take to record a stop and search.

MPS response

5. The MPS have made the following comments in response to the MPA’s interim response:

• At no stage has the MPS or the guidance document supported Recommendation 61 in its current form. Whilst the MPS fully understands the spirit of the recommendation and subscribes to the principles of transparency, it is a heavily bureaucratic way of increasing accountability and involves significant additional intrusion.
• Following a stop and search encounter the officer has to complete the relevant documentation either at the time of the interaction, or if impractical, at the earliest opportunity. Page 4 of the guidance document states ‘Complete records of all searches, both positive and negative. You must submit these promptly through your supervisors so that their intelligence value is not lost.’
• The document stresses that information must be entered onto the relevant databases within 5 days of the encounter. The onus is placed on the borough commanders to put systems in place to identify and remedy unsatisfactory processes. One of these would obviously be a delay in completing and forwarding the stop/search form to the Borough Intelligence Units.

Further actions required

6. Members will wish to consider whether the interim response deals adequately with its views, or whether they would wish to offer the MPS further views.

B. Recommendations

1. Members to note the interim response to the MPS on the draft guide (see Appendix 1).
2. Members to decide if they wish to make amendments to the interim draft.
3. The Committee to decide whether it wants the full Authority to endorse its comments prior to submitting them to the MPS.

C. Financial implications

There are no known financial implications arising from this report that have not been considered by the MPS.

D. Review arrangements

The Home Office will be publishing national guidance to all police services in England and Wales early in 2001. The MPA will want to ensure that it is kept fully informed by the MPS of the programme that it will have in place to ensure that it is complying with the national guidance. A starting point may be to bring a report to the February/March CDO Committee meeting on this item.

E. Background papers

The following is a statutory list of background papers (under the Local Government Act 1972 S.100 D) which disclose facts or matters on which the report is based and which have been relied on to a material extent in preparing this report. They are available on request to either the contact officer listed above or to the Clerk to the Police Authority at the address indicated on the agenda.

• Modernising the tactic: Improving the Use of Stop and Search. PRC Briefing note No 2/99
• Police Stops and Searches: Lessons from a Programme of Research. Police Research Series paper 127 - 132. Noel Miller, Paul Quinton and Nick Bland. September 2000
• The Impact of Stops and Searches on Crime and the Community. Police Research Series Paper 127. Joel Miller, Nick Bland and Paul Quinton. September 2000

F. Contact details

The author of this report is Julia Smith.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1: Interim response from MPA on the MPS draft Guide to Stop and Search entitled "Principles governing the use of stop and search"

The MPS Draft guide to Stop and Search was considered by the October meeting of the CDO Committee and this interim response represents a summary of officers’ understanding of the views expressed by committee members. The CDO Committee will have the opportunity to review this response at its meeting on 28 October 2000. (The draft guide and CDO response may then be put to the full Authority on 14 December 2000). A formal response from the MPA will be forwarded to the MPS, once it has been approved by the CDO (or full Authority).

The Policing and Crime Reduction Group at the Home Office and the APA have been consulted in preparing this interim response. The Home Office is in the process of drafting a national policy on Stop and Search. This will be published later this year, and the MPS along with all other police services will be required to address the recommendations and targets set out in the document. The APA will provide guidance for all police Authorities on the HO document.

The MPA applauds the MPS’s eagerness to issue guidance to those that have prime responsibility for Stops and Searches. It is also pleased to note that it has been based on the recommendations contained in the Home Office report ‘The Impact of Stops and Searches on Crime and the Community’ and other research that has been undertaken as part of the Home Office response to the Report of the Inquiry into the Matters arising from the Death of Stephen Lawrence.

The guiding principles are broadly in line with the recommendations of the Home Office report on the effectiveness of stops and searches, however the following observations are made:

• there is varying evidence on the effectiveness of stop and search as an effective method of crime detection and prevention. Home Office research indicates that the effectiveness of stops and searches is small, but measurable. Stop and search appears to be most effective when it is targeted at serious offences. The MPA is currently receiving regular performance monitoring reports from the MPS, and will want to see evidence that stop and search is being targeted at serious offenders, resulting in tangible crime detection and reduction;
• whilst there is some support for police stops and searches, the public perceive that the cost to local communities caused by their current use (e.g. in terms of aggravation, distrust and resentment) outweighs their potential value (e.g. finding drugs, weapons, or stolen items). The draft paper outlines guiding principles for: Senior management; first line supervisors; line managers; and, Officers conducting stops and searches. The paper does not however address how these principles will be implemented, or indeed, what mechanisms will be put in place to monitor implementation. The MPA would like further information in this area;
• the MPA agrees with the paper, and the extensive research findings on stops and searches, that ‘used properly, stop and search can increase community confidence in police and make a positive contribution to reducing the fear of crime’. It also fully supports the need for the MPS to implement suitable processes for recording, monitoring and training, including more effective management and use of IT;
• the disproportionate use of stop and search against members of ethnic minorities, particularly black people, continues to be a major concern for the MPA. Over the coming months, the Authority will want to engage fully with the MPS, pan London organisations, community groups and other stakeholders to explore such issues;
• the draft guide proposes that Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report be supported and therefore that a record be made of all police stops of members of the public, not just searches. The guide does not however, indicate the other aspect of the recommendation that ‘a copy of the record should be given to the person stopped’. The recommendation proposes that the reason and the outcome of the stop, and how the person describes his/her own ethnic background should all be included in the record. It would be helpful if the MPS could clarify whether it intends to implement Recommendation 61 in full and, if not, provide their rationale for not doing so;
  (Consultation with the Home Office on Recommendation 61 has indicated that full implementation may well prove counterproductive and extremely labour intensive, particularly with regard to providing the person stopped with a record of the incident. MPS should explain how they intend to achieve this, although it would be understandable should they wish to wait for guidance from the Home Secretary);
• guidance to senior managers, line managers and Officers - the MPA welcomes the specific guidance outlined in the document. However, it will wish to receive further papers, as they develop, on the practical steps that are being taken, at both corporate and borough level, to implement these principles and suitable monitoring processes;
• at the CDO Committee meeting on 26 October, members raised specific concerns about the length of time that Officers could take to record a stop and search. Although five days is adhered to in accordance to PACE, members felt that this length of time was far too long, that that the guidance should indicate a lesser timeframe for recording stops and searches.

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