Fears over stop and search for ethnic minorities
BLACK and Asian people are being ‘disproportionately’ stopped and searched by West Midlands Police, figures have revealed.
New figures showed that, on average, far more ethnic minority people were subject to the police powers than white people across the region.
A report presented to the Strategic Policing and Crime Board on Tuesday showed that there were 17 searches of black people per 1,000 head of population. This compares with four per 1,000 head of population for white people.
This was lower than the figure for England and Wales which is 29 searches of black people per 1,000 head of population.
In the West Midlands, the rate of stop and searches for Asian people was ten per 1,000 head of population and 15 for people of mixed race.
Police bosses said the process was now highly scrutinised and added officers now all wear body cameras to ensure searches are fair and lawful.
They also said they are using new methods of recording and assessing data on stop and searches to calculate where they take place and who they target.
Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: “The rate of which members of the black or Asian communities are searched is higher than white communities.
“The level of scrutiny that applies to make sure searches are lawful is, I think, intense and involves the public to give confidence.
“We do use the search rates against the overall population and that has some challenges and limitations.
“There are some parts of the force where search powers are used far more intensively and they are generally the areas with higher rates of crime and that’s what we’d expect to be doing.” Superintendent Ed Foster added the force was now using new methods to map stop and searches to see where they took place, assess the demographic and see if they happened in crime hotspots. He said they would also talk to officers if they were found to be targeting certain ethnicities to find out why.
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Ashley Bertie said: “I’m very heartened to see our panels are overseeing body-worn camera footage which I think is tied into the progressive zeal of this force and trying to ensure that stop and search is effective, efficient and is also open and transparent for the public to see.
“Although we are below the national average, we still have an issue around disproportionality and I would encourage the force to continue looking at how we can ensure stop and search is more proportionate across the board.” David Jamieson, Police and Crime Commissioner, added: “Disproportionality rates between different ethnic groups are still too high, but I am at least pleased that we are more proportionate than police forces across England and Wales.
“Stop and search rates have increased recently. Public panels regularly oversee body-worn video footage of the stops to ensure that there is an appropriate level of scrutiny and the force are complying their legal obligations.”
Disproportionality rates between different ethnic groups are still too high David Jamieson, Police and Crime Commissioner