Plan to curb police stop and search condemned
ACONSERVATIVE MP has hit back at Labour Crime Commissioner plans to cut back stop and search in the region as part of a move to make policing in the region ‘more inclusive’.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster questioned the use of stop and search and warned it was damaging confidence in policing among black and Asian communities.
In his crime plan for 2021-25 the Labour politician pledged to increase the rate of “positive outcomes” and to reduce “ethnic disproportionality” in how the powers are used.
Mr Foster’s document suggested that same of the searches currently carried out by West Midlands Police may be unlawful.
It said police needed “reasonable grounds” to stop and search someone, adding: “If searches are based on a reasonable suspicion of finding something or some other action following, then at least half would need to generate a positive outcome.”
But only 25 to 30 per cent of searches lead to something found, the document said.
It continued: “Thus, if searches are only leading to an action in about a quarter of cases, then it is legitimate to ask if the “reasonable grounds” threshold for a lawful search has been met in connection with many of the searches that take place.”
West Midlands Police figures show around 11 black people per 1,000 in the region have been searched, compared to three white people per 1,000. The proportion of Asian people searched is at eight per 1,000.
But Nicola Richards MP (Con, West Bromwich East) said she was “deeply disappointed” to hear the proposed plans, and claimed the PCC’s comments were
“a far cry”
from the zero tolerance message on crime the public needed to hear.
The West Bromwich East MP said: “A message must be sent to everyone who feels it is acceptable to carry weapons and drugs with them in public that we will not stand for it.
“Your latest public statements are a far cry from the zero-tolerance message my constituents and I expect your office to be conveying.
“Clearly, there is a demonstrable need to empower officers to use stop and search where appropriate, rather than undermine these powers.”
She added: “I am always shocked and upset when I have been shown some of the weapons that have been found in our town.
“And they have been carried by people of all ages, sometimes disturbingly young.
“It’s in their best interests these weapons are found, as well as everyone else
around them.
“Undermining police officers who use stop and search to protect the public risks the progress that has been made to make our town safer which is still a work in progress.”
Crime Commissioner Mr Foster said: “This plan is about making stop and search more efficient and effective, with the intention of removing more dangerous weapons from our streets - there is no reference in the plan to scaling back the number of stop and searches.
“Of course stop and search is intrusive, if it wasn’t then no hidden weapons would be found.
“Since 2010, West Midlands Police has lost 2,221 police officers as a consequence of the MP for West Bromwich East’s own government having defunded our police service.
“The force is due to receive 1,200 back over the coming years, leaving West Midlands Police with over 1,000 missing officers. I call on the MP for West Bromwich East to join me in demanding that her government return our 1,000 missing officers and in my fight for fair funding for West Midlands Police.”