Section 95: Statistics relating to stop and search

Report: 10
Date: 27 February 2001
By: Commissioner

Summary

Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 requires the Secretary of State to publish such information as he considers expedient in order to enable those involved in the criminal justice system to become aware of the financial implications of their decisions, or to avoid discrimination on grounds of race, sex or any other improper grounds.

Within the MPS, black people were recorded as being five times more likely and Asian people twice as likely to be searched than white people.

Though there is concern at the apparent level of disproportionality, Home Office research has raised the issue of benchmarking stop & search figures against 1991 census data.

A. Recommendations

Members are asked to note the report.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. Following the report of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the Home Office carried out a programme of independent research. This research examined the population actually ‘available’ to be stopped and searched, namely those people who are in public places when stop and searches take place. The research indicated that this population was very different from the resident population based upon 1991 census data. The research concluded that while comparisons between the number of recorded stops and searches and the numbers in the resident population remain important in describing the different experiences of different ethnic communities, they provide a poor indication of any overall police bias in the use of this power.

2. The Home Office will be considering how to take account of these findings in the collection and analysis of data in the future.

Analysis of MPS data

3. The data for this report was collected between April 1999 and March 2000 for the Home Office publication, under Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, “Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System”. This provides stop and search statistics across England and Wales

4. The Report indicates for the majority of police forces, it was apparent that the number of recorded stops and searches relative to the resident population was consistently higher for black people than for white people. Overall black people were recorded as being 5 times more likely to be searched than white people

5. The total number of searches carried out in the MPS during this period were:

• White: 107,142
• Black: 47,968
• Asian: 16,102

These figures represent the following percentage decreases since the previous report (1998-1999)

• White: 41%
• Black: 35%
• Asian: 42%

6. Overall, the number of searches throughout the MPS fell by 40% (nationally the figure was 14%).

7. However there had been, on average, a 4% increase in arrests across all ethnic groups during the corresponding period. The increase might indicate that a more intelligence led approach is being taken in applying stop and search powers.

8. Members should be aware that the MPS have proposed a more meaningful representation of stop and search performance and this is the subject of a separate report at the meeting.

9. Section.60 searches under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 has seen an increase of over last year’s figures (414 to 2691). The authorisation level for these searches was reduced from Superintendent to Inspector in March 1999. The searches allow for fast time use of intelligence and legislative weaponry in targeting potential public order incidents and thus preventing critical incidents.

C. Financial implications

None associated with the content of this report.

D. Contact details

The author of this report is Inspector Cheryl Burden, DCC4 (4).

For information contact:

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

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