Black youths are being ‘unfairly targeted’ by police, says activist
A QUARTER of the 7,700 children and youths held by the police in the West Midlands this year were from the Afro-Caribbean community.
The figures represent a major reduction in young people detained by the West Midlands force but prompted fears over the disproportionate number of black youths being held.
In 2015 a total of 9,174 youngsters were held, while in 2017 the figure was 7,761.
Chief Constable Dave Thompson admitted the number of Afro-Caribbean youngsters held in cells seemed “disproportionately high” at a meeting of the Strategic Policing and Crime Board.
That group bucks a trend generally showing the percentage of youngsters arrested from other ethnic backgrounds was in line with their community’s numbers in the region.
“In general terms they (the number of ethnic minors detained) is fairly consistent,” said Mr Thompson. “The one that looks disproportionately high is Afro-Caribbean.
“I think that does look high, but it doesn’t mean it’s not for the right reasons.”
The Chief Constable stressed that detention is not a step taken lightly. “There is always the ‘do we need to?’ test when people are brought into custody,” he said.
But Birmingham Afro-Caribbean activist Desmond Jaddoo has demanded comparisons with the levels of the community’s youths detained in other police regions.
He said the arrest statistics have, for the past five years, flagged up “disproportionality”.
“We never see the justification for why it happens,” he added. “There is, in my view, a general question over police judgment on this.
“Time and again, I’m being told the justification for stop and search is the smell of cannabis.
“Is it a case of police officers seeing a young person, thinking ‘here comes trouble’ and targeting them with what I call ‘The Treatment’?”
‘The Treatment’ is a street term for detaining an individual for 24 hours, then releasing him or her without charge.
There is, in my view, a general question over police judgment on this Activist Desmond Jadoo