Metropolitan Police Authority - Stop and Search Scrutiny

78/03
15 October 2003

The Metropolitan Police Authority Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel will meet on Friday 17 October 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1, 10.00am - 1.00pm.

This is the sixth meeting, with a further seven planned, and already a number of themes are beginning to emerge. Most significant are the contradictions in perception of stop and search by the various representatives who have contributed to the scrutiny.

Cecile Wright, Chair of the Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel, said:

“What is emerging from the evidence we have heard so far is that trust and confidence in the MPS is still quite low.

“It is the wish of the panel that at the end of the scrutiny the MPA, MPS and other stakeholders will find a way of addressing the concerns of Londoners in relation to stop and search and determine its effectiveness in the fight against crime.”

The panel has heard from a wide range of contributors including police officers of all ranks, young people from the Met’s Youth Independent Advisory Group and other minority ethnic community youth organisations, professional associations and academic authorities.

The panel has invited Lee Jasper, advisor on race relations to the Mayor of London, and representatives from the 1990 Trust and Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) to attend this meeting.

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 five 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; and
• Determine whether there exists different levels of criminality within different sectors of the population.

Cecile Wright, Chair of the Panel said:

"Historically, stop and search has resulted in distrust and levels of disengagement by those Londoners who are repeatedly stopped and searched. Although figures suggest a decrease in criminal activities the MPS’ figurers still show black Londoners are four times more likely to be stopped than white Londoners.

“This is of concern to the MPA as it impacts on the ability of the MPS to recruit black and ethnic minority people 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 can be found on the MPA website

Notes to editors

1. Dates of future meetings are available on the MPA website

2. Lee Jasper is advisor to the Mayor on race relations, a director of the 1990 Trust, chair of Operation Black Vote and a member of the Home Secretary’s Race Relations Forum.

3. The 1990 Trust was the first national black organisation set up to protect and pioneer the interest of Britain’s black communities.

4. The Commission for Racial Equality is the major national organisation concerned with eradicating and ensuring racial equality in all areas of institutional life in Britain. It has long been concerned with the impact that stop and search practice has on race relations.

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