Metropolitan Police Authority - stop and search scrutiny

68/03
24 September 2003

The Metropolitan Police Authority Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel will meet on Thursday 25 September 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1, from 2.00 - 5.00pm.

Issues to be considered include disproportionality and effectiveness of stop and search, how community confidence in the use of this police tool can be improved and, following the Macpherson Report, have the Met's responses to its recommendations been robust and successful.

The panel has invited Professor Marian Fitzgerald of the London School of Economics and representatives from National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) and the 1990 Trust to give evidence.

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

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."

Full details of the scrutiny and terms of reference are available.

Notes to editors

1. Dates of future meetings are available.
2. Professor Marian Fitzgerald is the author of a number of reports and studies for the Home Office, the MPS and others. These have included 'Minorities, Crime and Criminal Justice' (1997), 'Stop & Search: Final Report' (1999), 'Young People and Street Crime in London' (2000), 'Ethnic Minorities and Community Safety' (2001), and 'Policing for London' (2002).
3. The 1990 Trust was the first national Black organisation set up to protect and pioneer the interest of Britain's Black communities.
4. NACRO has been actively concerned for many years with the impact of stop and search practice. Through its Race and Criminal Justice Unit, it participated in reviewing the results of the pilot project around stop and search in Tottenham in January 1997.

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