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In an interview in today’s Sun newspaper, the Conservative leader, David Cameron would have us believe that an increase in the police use of stop and search would help to solve gun, knife and violent crime. His claims come despite the clear evidence that black communities are already up to six times more likely than their white counterparts to be stopped and searched and, further, that on average only 11% of all stop and searches result in an arrest, with an even smaller proportion leading to a prosecution.

Even a recent parliamentary home affairs select committee report noted that in some London boroughs with a relatively small black population, young black people were significantly more likely to be stopped and searched, in some cases up to 15 times more likely.

It is well known that the capacity to use legitimate, state-sanctioned force, such as stop and search, is the defining feature of the police organisation. However, the guiding principle is that use of force by police must be essential (used as a tactic of last resort) and minimal (must be no more than is needed). It must be seen as legitimate (justifiable to the public and with its consent) and the police must be able to account for their actions. Hence, the importance in the use of stop and search monitoring forms.

Even where ‘bureaucracy’ or “red tape” is not at play as in the case of searches under Section 60 (s60) of the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act - these do not require officers to have “reasonable grounds” for any search, so the arrest rate is much lower - their impact on black people is more disproportionate. Generally, s60 searches are much less common than Section 1 (s1) searches; but, in the West Midlands, they account for about half of all searches on black people.

Stop and search remains one of the most powerful tools available to the police, but there is no evidence that it works; far from disrupting criminal activity, it has historically alienated huge sections of society, bringing the police into direct conflict with too many law-abiding citizens. The excessive use of stop and search lends weight to claims of police institutional racism at the heart of which is the regulation and control of black communities.

The police need to move beyond ‘racial profiling’ and abuse of civil rights where the genuine perception of those affected is that their only crime is “walking while black” or “driving while black” and the resultant police impunity. So called, ‘bureaucracy’ around police use of stop and search, has certainly not curbed police freedom or its over zealous use on black young people.

Contrary to Cameron’s argument there is no evidence that existing “Stop and search rules…protect young black and Asian British kids,” and there has been no “police stand-off in black areas” - quite the reverse, as the continued increase in disproportionate stop and search among black people will testify, not to mention the huge numbers of black people on the DNA database. The humiliating experience of being repeatedly stopped and searched has sadly become a fact of life for the black community.

Apart from the huge costs that would be incurred, an increase in the use of stop and search, as advocated by Cameron, is unworkable, unmanageable, unjust and symptomatic of a knee jerk response to the growing problem of violent crime among Britain’s youth.
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Building trust and confidence, the development of community intelligence and innovative ways of working in partnership with the community are some of the key policing tools and strategies that will better tackle the scourge of gun, knife and violent crime. The police have a responsibility to better engage their resources in dismantling the importation, manufacture, distribution and sale of guns and ballistics and, for that matter, drugs too.

Conversely, tackling the mindset of those prepared to carry a gun, knife or other violent weapon is of greater importance. Investing the necessary resources to address the root causes is what this government should focus on rather than seeking to outwit Cameron as to who is toughest on crime

Claudia Webbe
claudia.webbe@gmail.com