Implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry

Report: 06a
Date: 05 February 2004
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 and searches. This report outlines the progress being made towards implementation within the Metropolitan Police Service.

A. Recommendations

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

Overview

1. Work is progressing on preparing the implementation pack for boroughs to allow them to introduce the concept of Recommendation 61 to their staff and communities. This pack will be delivered to boroughs by the end of February, thereby giving them the required four months to carry out the necessary work before the implementation date of 1 July 2004. The Stop/Search form is currently being re-designed and this work is nearing completion. The final draft will be quality assured by a group of operational constables and sergeants to ensure it is fit for purpose. We have received a draft copy of the proposed changes to the PACE Codes of Practice and can ensure that the re-designed form incorporates the recording requirements that the Home Office will set for Recommendation 61.

2. We have also had the opportunity to ensure that the data captured on the form is accurate and did not lead to the problems faced by MORI during their recent evaluation. We believe that the issue here was false information in terms of names and addresses given by some people who were stopped. Although the PACE Codes of Conduct state the officer must ask for the name, address and date of birth of the person searched, there is no obligation on a person to provide these details and no power of detention if the person is unwilling to do so. This makes it difficult for officers to verify that the details given to them are accurate.

Hackney

3. The recording of all stops (REC 61) continues at Hackney with an average of 378 stops per month compared to a monthly average of 874 searches. The chart below shows the breakdown of stops and searches since April;

4. On 10 December 2003 the MPA organised a public meeting in Hackney to discuss the subject of Recommendation 61 within the borough. Commander Bob Broadhurst, Chief Inspector Don Smith and other officers from Hackney were in attendance, along with Cecile Wright and Julia Smith from the MPA. Chief Inspector Smith gave a presentation using some of the data he has used to brief the local monitoring group. Part of the presentation involved anonymous data on the five people most frequently stopped on the borough. It has since transpired that some of this data was inaccurate as a result of a fault on the database which double counted some of the entries. The fault has now been rectified and Chief Inspector Smith has reported in detail to the local group.

Tower Hamlets

5. The recording of all stops began at Tower Hamlets on 30 November 2003. Consequently figures are only available for December which are as follows:

6. As with Hackney, the key to success in Tower Hamlets has been the close involvement of the senior management team and the leadership shown by Chief Inspector Richard Woolford. The figures show officers have fully engaged in the process and the first month is encouraging. The local monitoring group has also been active, and is challenging, supporting and guiding borough officers. The chair, Abdal Ullah is playing a crucial role in this.

Update on the IT initiative

7. Tower Hamlets began using the PDAs on 30 November 2003 when there were 16 devices in use. Since 9 January 2004 this has increased to 70 devices. One immediate effect of the PDA is that the database can give accurate information immediately. The following figures show the number of stops and searches recorded between 30 November 2003 to 19 January 2004:

8. Overall the feedback from the borough is positive. Officers using the devices had some early concerns regarding their use, reliability and officer safety issues but they appear to have quickly got over them. As expected, there is no change in the actual time taken to conduct the physical search but once officers had familiarised themselves with the PDA the recording of the details became quicker than using the stops form. This has served to speed up the whole process and allow those stopped to go on their way more quickly. Another positive note is that 70% of people stopped or searched using a PDA received a copy of the record at the time. This compares to Hackney and some other boroughs where 30% or less of forms are being completed on the street.

9. The borough report that the whole process from the time of the stop, recording of data, supervision and inputting onto the stops database has greatly decreased in time. They have also found that the implementation has proved to be more efficient and is overall better than paper particularly with respect to inputting onto the database. It should be pointed out that Tower Hamlets still have more paper forms than those on the PDA and, like other boroughs, they experience a backlog of paper forms awaiting input.

10. There are some early criticisms of the PDA most notably that at times it takes too long to get onto PNC which then “times out” too quickly. However, it should be noted that in general the officers like access to PNC and it has taken demand away from the control room in conducting PNC enquiries. The officers also expressed concern that the PDA does not always connect to the AWARE system. They have also experienced some problems with the printer which accounts for some of the records not being handed out on the street.

11. The early results of the PDA initiative are encouraging. A full evaluation is underway and will report in due course.

Complaints

12. Tower Hamlets designed and delivered a Recommendation 61 training package taking into account lessons learnt from Hackney and in consultation with the MPS Diversity Directorate. The training was assessed independently by members of Tower Hamlets Community Monitoring Group and all feedback received has been positive.

13. In relation to individuals rights to complain all operational officers at Hackney and Tower Hamlets are made aware of people’s rights and the fact that the stops form contains information on how to complain. However, officers are not trained to tell people how to complain following a stop nor are they encouraged to do so.

14. In relation specifically to Recommendation 61 stops Tower Hamlets has received no complaints since the 30 November 2003 and Hackney has received only three since April 2003. That is three complaints out of 4075 stops – a complaint rate of 0.07%. Both boroughs share complaints data regularly with their consultative groups, local strategic partnerships, independent advisory groups and other local monitoring groups.

Progress and update on local publicity and implementation strategies

15. It is accepted by the MPS that local publicity at Hackney was not well handled, however, the posters have now been agreed and are being prepared in different languages. The lessons from Hackney have been learnt and Tower Hamlets introduced a community monitoring group in September 2003 which helped prepare a media strategy. This included articles in “The Job”, on the MPS Intranet and letters and presentations to all surrounding boroughs and Pan London units. Their marketing strategy included the production of posters covering the launch, leaflets and publicity on Ramadan calendars.

C. Equality and diversity implications

There is a lack of confidence in the criminal justice system, particularly among minority ethnic communities in relation to stop/search activity. The implementation of Recommendation 61 and changes in the revised Code A should significantly increase both the trust and confidence of the public in policing. 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.

D. Financial implications

Expenditure is contained within existing budgets. A detailed report on the IT costs will be prepared as part of the evaluation.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Commander Robert Broadhurst, TPHQ, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

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