Police watchdog calls for law change to address ‘traumatic’ impact of stop and search on ethnic minorities

Police chiefs must overhaul their use of stop and search to address its “traumatic” and disproportionate impact on ethnic minority groups, a watchdog has found.

A review by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has today made a string of recommendations aimed at stopping the unequal targeting of black, Asian and other ethnic minority groups.

In the year to March 2021, black people were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white, while Asian people were 2.4 times more likely.

The report included one case study of a black boy who was searched more than 60 times between the ages of 14 and 16, sometimes more than once in the same day.

Another black child who rode his bicycle near a pedestrian during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions was wrongly suspected of being involved in a drugs deal.

The IOPC said force, in particular handcuffs, must not be used as standard during searches, while officers should not rely on the smell of cannabis alone when deciding whether to stop someone.

It highlighted one example where a 12-year-old boy with a plaster cast on one arm was handcuffed while out running an errand for his mother. The child was restrained within 20 seconds of the officer leaving his patrol car.

The watchdog called on police bosses to “reduce their officers’ reliance on the smell of cannabis alone” when deciding whether to carry out a search.

It said it had seen examples where the smell of cannabis was the sole grounds given for stop and search, which is not in accordance with authorised police practice.

The report called on the Home Office to review what are considered reasonable grounds for suspicion of cannabis possession, and whether any changes are needed to police powers.

Current guidelines say it is not good practice for an officer to rely on one factor when deciding whether to search someone, particularly if it is difficult to attribute to one person.

In its report, the IOPC said: “In some of our investigations, the smell of cannabis has either formed the sole grounds given for a stop and search, or it has been the main reason for suspicion alongside either weak, non-specific concerns about behaviour, or vague intelligence relating to geographical location.

“These examples reinforce an often-held perception that the smell of cannabis is being used as an excuse to conduct a stop and search, especially when no cannabis is then found on the individual.”

It comes following the case of a black schoolgirl who was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly accused of cannabis possession.

The teenager, who was 15 at the time, was subjected to a search by Metropolitan Police officers at a school in London after they were called by teachers who were concerned the student had drugs in her possession because she allegedly smelt of cannabis.

Police in England and Wales carried out 695,009 stop and searches in the year to March 2021, 77 per cent of which resulted in no further action.

Although forces often cite the powers as useful for taking weapons off the streets, 478,576 of the searches were for drugs, up 36 per cent on the previous year.

The report’s recommendations include:

– The National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing draw up new guidelines to stop people from ethnic minorities being searched or subject to use of force “because of decision-making based upon assumptions, stereotypes and racial bias”.

– That the two bodies and the Home Office commission research into trauma caused by the incorrect use of stop and search.

– The ethnicity and gender of people subject to traffic stops should be recorded to see if the powers are disproportionately used against certain groups.

– Officers’ individual stop and search records should be regularly reviewed.

– Police chiefs should make sure their officers know they are obliged to challenge inappropriate behaviour by colleagues during stop and searches.

Emmanuelle Andrews, policy and campaigns manager at human rights campaign group Liberty, told The Independent the trauma young people experience during these stops can have a damaging impact on their self-image.

“Through my work I hear of these cases constantly and the sad thing is these are young people, they are going home in their school uniforms and they are being harassed by police,” she said.

“I know my dad gets stopped and searched still as a 70-year-old man.

“It’s something that becomes so normalised young black men just come to expect it. I think that’s so sad, that that’s the world our young people are growing up in.

“I think from a young person’s perspective, the fact you are constantly criminalised or perceived to be a criminal, that has a really damaging impact on young people’s perceptions of themselves, what they believe they are going to achieve in their lives.

“Some of the case studies are absolutely harrowing and it’s really important they are given a space and people’s experiences are given a spotlight but unless the lessons are learned and the conversation that’s happening at the moment with respect to policing is taken seriously and some of the solutions community groups are offering as alternatives are taken seriously then nothing’s going to change.”

Habib Kadiri, research and policy manager at StopWatch UK, said that while there was a slight drop in the rate people from black backgrounds were searched compared to white people in the year to March 2021 (a rate of 7.0 times higher in 2021 compared with 8.8 in the previous year), it was unlikely to have been down to changes in policing.

He told The Independent: “When you look at those figures it’s technically an improvement but it’s not an improvement brought about by any advances in policing and it could be six next week or it could be eight again that year.

“Expecting things to improve means the police have to acknowledge a lot of failings on their part and we are kind of unsure from one commissioner to the next exactly how culpable an organisation like the Metropolitan Police or Greater Manchester or the West Midlands find themselves.”

He added: “There are far too many encounters where police are assuming things, especially when it comes to young black men and boys. They are assuming they are inherently stronger and handcuffing.

“A lot of the cases we come across are similar in the sense a lot of them feature young black boys and men – some are children and they are perceived as much older than they actually are or much stronger than they actually are and those inherent assumptions and racial prejudices really dictate the nature of the stop and search.”

Sal Naseem, IOPC lead on discrimination, said: “We are concerned about the impact of stop and search on ethnic minority groups, in particular the negative effect it can have on public confidence in policing.

“It cannot be underestimated how traumatic a stop and search encounter can be on an individual. If carried out insensitively, a person can be left feeling humiliated and victimised.

“The experience can also be the first interaction for some young adults and if it is a negative one, this can have a lasting impact on that person and the trust they put in the police. It is time to break the cycle.”