Stop and Search Scrutiny

51/03
10 July 2003

The Metropolitan Police Authority Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel will meet on Thursday 10 July 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1, from 2.30 – 6.00pm.

All meetings of the Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel are open to public and press.

The panel has invited the borough commanders from Southwark and Hackney, Ian Thomas and Derek Benson, and Paul Pugh of the Home Office, to give evidence.

Background:

In January 2003, the MPA’s Co-ordination and Policing Committee agreed to conduct a scrutiny into the Met’s performance and practice in using stop and search across the capital.

The scrutiny will be overseen by the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board, the MPA committee responsible for matters relating to equal opportunity and diversity issues, and will concentrate on four key aspects of stop and search that previous studies have not explored. These are:

• Disproportionality and profiling
• Use of stop and search data and policing intelligence
• Cost effectiveness of stop and search
• Public engagement and information
• Determine whether there exists different levels of criminality within different sectors of the population

Cecile Wright, Chair of the Panel said:

“The MPS’s own figures for July–September 2002 indicate that black and ethnic minority Londoners were 4 times more likely to be searched by the police than white people in the capital. This is of deep concern to the MPA and has resulted in a state of historical distrust and levels of disengagement that especially hampers our objective to recruit more people from black and minority ethnic communities into the police service.

“Detailed investigation of the five areas to be addressed by the Scrutiny Panel will contribute significantly to addressing longstanding and unresolved issues surrounding police practice and use of stop and search.”

Notes to editors

1. Members of the Panel are:
   • Chair: Cecile Wright (Chair of the Equal Opportunities Board)
   • Vice Chair: Lyn Featherstone (GLA and MPA member)
   • MPA Members: Lord Harris (Chair of the Authority), R. David Muir (Deputy Chair of the Authority), Eric Ollerenshaw (GLA and MPA Member), Peter Herbert (Independent Member).
   • External panel members: Althea Smith (Chair of Southward Community and Police Consultative Group), John Grieve (former Head of Diversity Directorate MPS), Brian McCarthy (Action Group for Irish Youth), Reverend Nims Obunge (Haringey Peace Alliance).
2. It is intended to hold the scrutiny meetings bi-monthly
3. For full details please see MPA press release 07/03 24 January 2003 “ MPA to scrutinise MPS performance and practice in Stop and Search”.

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