Progress in the implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry

Report: 08a
Date: 17 July 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry seeks to establish a system whereby a record is made by police officers of all stops and stop & searches. This report outlines the progress being made towards implementation within the Metropolitan Police Service.

A. Recommendations

Members are asked note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

Overview

1. Recommendation 61 of Stephen Lawrence report stated, ”That the Home Secretary, in consultation with police services, should ensure that a record is made by police officers of all “stops” and “stop and searches” made under any legislative provision. Non-statutory or so-called “voluntary” stops must also be recorded. The record to include the reason for the stop, the outcome, and the self-defined ethnic identity of the person stopped. A copy of the record shall be given to the person stopped”.

2. The MPS is one of seven police services across the country selected by the Home Office to participate in the phased implementation. The intention of the Home Office is to reflect different policing environments and resident population profile. The other six police services are:

• Merseyside;
• North Wales;
• Nottinghamshire;
• Sussex;
• West Midlands;
• West Yorkshire.

3. Commander Broadhurst of the MPS chairs a Steering Group for the implementation of Recommendation 61, this group consists of Doreen Lawrence, Ravi Chand (NBPA), Paul Quinton (Home Office) and Cecile Wright (MPA).

4. A workgroup consisting of practitioners to address issues relating to communication, form design, training and the stops database also meets on a regular basis.

5. The first phase of implementation of Recommendation 61 commenced in Hackney borough on 1 April 2003. The recording of self-defined ethnicity (16+1) commenced across the MPS on 1 April 2003. The implementation is well under way in Hackney. There have been no recorded complaints from the public from the implementation of Recommendation 61. The table below contains the data for ‘stops’ and ‘stop and searches for Hackney borough.

Hackney borough ‘stop and search’ data

6. The review of training for the implementation of Recommendation 61 and the new Stop and Search form have raised some anecdotal comments regarding: the practicalities of the form, the barrier the process creates to the interaction, the perceptions of the community regarding the change and the criteria used to identify ‘stops’. These issues are being addressed within the working group and are also being researched by Internal Consultancy Group to try and understand what is actually happening. The figures at Hackney show an increase in use of both Stop and Search and Recommendation 61 stops. This tends to contradict the anecdotes and so full analysis is required before any further action should be taken.

7. Senior police officers from Hackney borough have shared all the data from the stops and stop and search with the local monitoring group in an open and transparent fashion. There has been no adverse criticism, however neither has there been overt praise or positive feedback. MPA take the lead in community consultation.

8. The MPS will decide on the implementation at a second site and across the MPS after analysing the evaluation by Home Office and Internal Consultancy Group. Work is progressing to get a workable hand held IT device to record stop/search interactions.

Training

9. All of the relevant staff at Hackney have been trained for the implementation of Recommendation 61. Internal Consultancy Group carried out the evaluation of the effectiveness of the training. They spoke to officers from different units and teams at Hackney borough. One of the main shortcomings described by the officers has been about the lack of clarity about what constitute a ‘stop’. Different Officers are interpreting the term ‘stop’ differently. The definition from the Home Office ‘When an officer requests a person in a public place to account for themselves i.e. their actions, behaviour, presence in an area or possession of anything’ covers a huge amount of an officer’s interaction with a member of the public. The officers feel this makes the system unworkable and they claim to avoid interaction with public as a way of not having to complete huge numbers of stop forms.

10. MPS also carried out a separate review on the delivery of the training for Recommendation 61. The Training Policy Unit carried out this review. This review evaluated the research carried out prior to the designing of the course, delivery of the training, student reaction and learning. The review was carried out by Observation of the training, interviewing the students and staff, Student Questionnaire and documentary analysis. The report is positive about the training provided and makes a number of recommendations for the future rollout across the MPS. These recommendations can be summarised as:

• Separate training for supervisors from the other staff
• Deliver the training over a working day
• Issue pre-course material prior to attendance
• Form the training team from Borough trainers, diversity trainers and associated trainers prior to the commencement of training.

Information Technology

11. The new stops database became operational across the MPS on 1 April 2003; it has been running successfully in Hackney as well as the rest of the MPS. The database has the facility to record ‘stops’ as well as ‘stop and searches’.

Communication

12. The MPS now has taken the lead from the MPA on external communication for Recommendation 61 in Hackney borough. MPA still retains the lead for the rest of the MPS. Directorate of Public Affairs (DPA) will assist Hackney borough in this field. Once the issue of external funding from the Home Office has been resolved to fund an external poster and flyer campaign, Hackney borough intends to get the local schools to design a poster as part of a competition. The winning poster will be distributed with the assistance of local community groups.

Forms

13. The new Stop and Search forms were delivered to all boroughs prior to 1 April 2003; these forms are now being used across the MPS by all police officers. The forms have been designed to meet the requirements of the new code of practice ‘A’ relating to stop and search as well as to record stops under Recommendation 61.

14. Code of practice ‘A’ governs the exercise by police officers of statutory powers to search a person without first arresting that person or to search a vehicle without making an arrest. One of changes introduced by the new code of practice ‘A’, implemented on 1st April 2003, state a record of the search must be given to the person concerned at the time of the search. Code of practice A is applicable across whole of the MPS whilst Recommendation 61 is being implemented only in Hackney borough.

15. The new form asks for additional information compared to the old form and as a result it takes longer to complete this form. As a number of officers have raised concern over the length of time it takes to complete this form, MPS has commissioned Internal Consultancy Group to carry out an evaluation of this form. This evaluation will commence in the very near future.

Street Population

16. Analysis of disproportionality in stop and search has been centred on comparing the number of searches per resident population across ethnic groups, when in fact, as a non-random intelligence led power, it should reflect descriptions provided by victims. This raises the concern that searches per resident population is painting a distorted picture of disproportionality in the use of stop and search.

17. Following discussion between the MPS, Home Office and the MPA, Diversity Directorate of the MPS has taken the lead in developing an MPS approach to the estimation of street population. The main objective of the project is the development of a method for estimating street population that can be used throughout the MPS. Agreeing a pilot method with the stakeholders and testing it in Hackney borough will achieve this. Research has commenced on the use of stop and search and CCTV coverage in Hackney to establish pilot parameters and timing. It is anticipated that after the methodology has been agreed and an external agency has been commissioned, the pilot will commence by the end of August 2003. The use of external agency will counter challenge of bias.

Progress in other implementation sites in England & Wales

18. The Home Office indicate all the Police Services involved in the first phase implementation of Recommendation 61 are making good progress. The Home Office has put the MPS Project Initiation Document (PID) for Implementation of Recommendation 61 forward as best practice for the others. Home Office have carried out evaluations through interviewing staff in MPS, West Midlands, North Wales and Merseyside. They also intend to survey and question community members in the very near future. Home Office staff were extremely pleased with the level of support received from officers from Hackney and as a result Home Office have been very complimentary of the degree of commitment, cooperation, assistance and the openness of the officers from Hackney borough.

C. Equality and diversity implications

Recommendation 61 is a key element to achieve Recommendation 1 of Stephen Lawrence report that is to increase trust and confidence in policing amongst minority ethnic communities. Recommendation 61 will provide the opportunity for the person stopped to self-define their ethnic identity according to the classification in Census 2001. This will assist the MPS to monitor the treatment of different ethnic groups in order to improve the service we provide and improve the trust and confidence of the public in the police service.

D. Financial implications

Internal Consultancy Group of the MPS will carry out the initial work on the project to estimate the street population. The cost of commissioning an external agency has not been determined, however based on the data collection in the Home Office study this is unlikely to exceed £10,000. The award of the contract to undertake the survey will be in accordance with the MPA Scheme of delegation. This cost will be met from Diversity Directorate budget.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Inspector Manpreet Bains, Diversity Directorate

For more information contact:

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

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