Police SHOULD target black areas, says Trevor Phillips

POLICING should be tougher in black communities blighted by knife crime, the former head of the equalities watchdog said.

Trevor Phillips called for ‘stop and search’ tactics to be used more widely in areas such as Tottenham, where there has been an epidemic of stabbings. ‘We have to be honest and say the central issue is not white boys in Surrey being stabbed or stabbing other people,’ he said. ‘The victims and perpetrators are mainly from a narrow range of backgrounds, and we should not be afraid to say so. They are usually from black, Afro-Caribbean backgrounds.’

The 64-year-old, whose parents came to the UK from the West Indies in the 1950s, added: ‘Some might say it is racist to use different methods of policing for areas based on their ethnic make-up, but I disagree.’