Metropolitan Police Authority - Stop and Search Scrutiny

89/03
5 November 2003

The Metropolitan Police Authority Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel will hold its next meeting on Thursday 6 November 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1, at 3.00pm.

Witnesses will include MPS officers who hold supervisory duties and representatives from the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

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

"For this session the Panel have invited MPS supervisory officers to give evidence, as they are crucial to what happens on the street between police officers and the community. We will be speaking to them to gain an insight as to how stop and search is supervised and an understanding of the briefing and intelligence they give officers, as well as examining the direction that officers receive in undertaking stops and searches.

"We will also hear evidence from the Islamic Human Rights Commission. During 2000 - 2001 the MPS's own data for the stop and search rate for Asian people increased by 41%. We will explore the reasons for this with the Islamic Human Rights Commission, and in the aftermath of 9/11, the police use of section 60 of the Public Order Act and how the level of police interaction with the Islamic communities can be improved."

The 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 MPS'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. The Islamic Human Rights Commission was set up in 1997. It is an independent, not-for-profit, campaign, research and advocacy organisation based in London. It fosters links and works in partnership with different organisations from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds, to campaign for justice for all peoples regardless of their racial, confessional or political background.

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