Disproportionate Stop and Search of BAME Individuals in England and Wales

INTRODUCTION

This research report will be examining the history of stop and search and its powers, together with the legal basis of stop and search. Many research journals and articles shows that black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) people are 4.1 more likely to be stopped and searched than white people in England and Wales. The statistics are blunt: they show that a black person is at least six times more likely to get stopped and searched by the police compared to a white person in England and Wales. And if your race is Asian, you will be around twice as likely to be searched as compared to white people. The stop and search act by police officers has long demonstrated a dubious power. It started with the "sus" regulation, introduced by the Vagrancy Act of 1824, which outfitted an official with the ability to stop and look through a person based on his doubt alone. However, these acts have been explicitly recognized as notable power abuses on minorities, particularly against ethnic minority communities, and played a causal role in the breakdown of relations between the police and the people they served, as well as the bitterness of young people of color who felt they were being pursued and punished regardless of their innocence. This traumatizes young individuals from the local area who, after hearing the narratives of numerous blameless youngsters being halted and searched, start to lose trust in the police. In this research, we will be exploring the literature around the issue of the disproportionality of this law and finding the current statistics concerning the tactics used by the police over the last decade and the transformation in the strategies implied for the BAME groups.

To assess police bias, data is provided in the police forum, which is examined and interpreted against the overall statistics published by the police to establish the ratio of BAME people being stopped and searched against the overall populace being searched in England and Wales. It will also investigate the proportion of people with a local community to help assert the hypothesis that police may exert bias when engaging in stop and search operations. The unjustifiable utilization of stop and search against individuals from ethnic minority networks was featured again by Lord Macpherson's 1999 investigation into the homicide of Stephen Lawrence, a murder of a black guy by a group of white people. It made a few key proposals, including tighter recording of stops. We have explored the methods of stop and search used towards different ethnic groups and the data gathered after that incident was assessed to cover the effectiveness of the tactic used by the police towards different race groups and the consequential impact of this on the community.

In addition to that, the Scarman Report indicated a stage change in the manner in which policing and its belongings in the local area were perceived. The new act, known as the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), was introduced, which had another overall impact on the official's ability and power to stop and examine an individual or vehicle. This is the most commonly used power for pausing and searching, accounting for 99.7 percent of all pursuits in 2015/16.In 2011, the riots brought up significant issues about the connection between the police and the populace they target. The Home Office recorded that between 2014 and 2015 there were nearly 541,000 fewer people, down by 58% from 1 million between 2008 and 2009 in terms of stop and search (Home Office 2015). According to GOV.UK (2021), there were 6 stop searches for every 1,000 white people, compared with 54 for every 1,000 black people. London was named the highest rate for all ethnic groups (GOV.UK, 2021).

Lastly, we have gathered the data during the COVID pandemic and its overall impact in terms of the number of stops and searches. For example, there was a rise of 40% in London as this type was used more than 104,914 times between April and June 2020, up to almost 1,100 times a day (Beckford, M. 2020). And a discussion on the Lammy report and its key points, including how it will impact the community and what the overall statistics are for BAME people treated by the Criminal Justice System (CMJ).

LITERATURE REVIEW

The acronym BAME was originated by anti-racist movement in UK, 1970. For this movement communities of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic united against discrimination. Originally, it was called BME – which reflected Blackness & Other Ethnicity, and later in the 1990s the “A” was added to represent the Asian community. (What’s Does BAME Mean, and Should I Use It? 2022)

The police have the power allows police to search persons and vehicles without a warrant in specific situations, but statistics shows that police have been this power of theirs rather carelessly or disproportionately. The ease with which police can use this power combined with their divergent views as to what is considered ‘suspicious’ means that stop & search has become the go-to power for social control, which is influenced by insensible biases or outright racial prejudices. That is, terms ‘fitting to suspect description’ & ‘smelling like weed’ are commonly used as a justification for searching people of BAMES.

According to the Equality & Human Rights Commission, in some areas, the probability of black people being stopped & searched is 29 times more likely. Whereas, overall, black people are six times more likely to be stopped than white people.

According to Home Office research, carried out in year 2000, showed that stop & search had only a minimal role in crime fighting as its role is not connected to criminal activity patterns but instead the drug searches were only fueling unproductive searches of young black men and other ethnic minorities. (2022) The Equality & Human Rights Commission, ten years later, concluded the same. In year 2017, the college of Policing published analysis on stop & search effect on various crimes. It too supports that it has a weak role in reducing only certain types of crime meanwhile has no measurable influence on rest. Of course, Stop & search can still be considered as a useful tool in detection of criminal activities given that this method is being used in a proper & targeted way.

There are numerous reasons as to why the police shall carry out ‘Section 1 PACE STOP & SEARCH’. For example, they suspected an individual is carrying drugs or weapons. The arrest resulting from these kinds of searches may not relate to initial reason of the search. That is, let’s say the officer suspected the individual was high on drugs or was carrying drugs but upon search, they came across weapons. Therefore, the arrest gives an overall picture of the number searches that led to the arrest but is not insightful for arrest rates of specified offenses.

Figure 1. Proportion of PACE stops and searches and resultant arrests, by reason for search/arrest, England and Wales, year ending March 2015

4. For the year ending March 2015, suspicion of drugs possession marked as the number one reason for ‘PACE stop & search’ as it accounted for 59% of all PACE stops.

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   Figure 2: The stop -and- search rate per 1,000 people, by ethnicity

   he following graph and table shows the stop-and-search results, by ethnicity, of citizens of England and Wales for the time period of April 2019 to March 2020. (Ethnicity Facts & Figures GOV.UK)

Table 1: Stop and search rate per 1,000 people, and number of stop and search incidents, by ethnicity

The following table shows the stop-and-search results, by ethnicity over time, of citizens of England and Wales for the time period of April 2009 to March 2019.

Table 2. Stop-and-search rate per 1,000 people, by ethnicity over time

The following graph and table shows the stop-and-search results, by ethnicity and area, of citizens of England and Wales for the time period of April 2019 to March 2020. (Ethnicity Facts & Figures GOV.UK)

Table 3: Stop and search rates per 1,000 people, by ethnicity in London (Metropolitan Police) and the rest of England and Wale

METHODOLOGY

The data is extracted from the verified sources, journals, and articles to analyze the data of the BAME people being treated by the police for the search and stop and the impact of it in the society looking at the police tactics and behaviors to the group of people and the arrests and stop and search affecting the life of the ethnics group.

The data is analyzed of the pattern held by the police in Wales and England of about 2 decades, the norms the progress in the following methods highlighted and asked to be changed. The information is obtained from the data published by the police institutes and analyzed the role of the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE ACT) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the role and action taken by the Criminal Justice Services (CJS).

looking at the statistics of March 2015, there were recorded 541,000 stops and searches directed by police in the England and Wales, reflecting a fall of 40% than the earlier year. This reflects the most reduced number of stops and searches recorded since the information gathered was being published. during the same period, there was a fall in the data to about 31% for arrests conducted during the stop and search. about Fourteen percent of stop and search prompted arrests, the rate was increased up by 2 percent as compared to the earlier year. By the end of March 2015, the absolute number of stops and searches did in England and Wales was dropped by 58% compared to the statistics of March 2011, and for the BME people it has fallen to about 68% and stops of White people falling by 55%. Over similar period stops on the people who were Black have fallen by 70%.

The Black and Minority Ethnic people (BME) individuals were two times likely to be searched than the whites. Specifically, the ones who are Black (or Black British) were targeted multiple times for the stop and search as compared to the whites. This was processed by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), they represented the formation of the stop and search, and had a huge extent of BME peoples than in England and Wales by and large.

This segment takes a gander at stops and searches led by police in England and Wales under 3 different official powers. These are:

• area 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and related regulation

• area 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

• areas 44/47A of the Terrorism Act 2000

The powers permit police to look through people and vehicles without a warrant in explicit circumstances. While directing a pause and search, police are expected to ask the individual being halted to characterize their identity. With the end goal of this examination, identities are assembled into the accompanying:

• White

• Dark (or Black British)

• Asian (or Asian British)

• Chinese or other

• Blended

• Not Stated

While taking a gander at the ethnic breakdowns of those halted and looked, the ethnic breakdown of the private and visiting populace of every area should be thought of. Regions with higher extents of ethnic minority inhabitants and guests are probably going to see bigger quantities of stops and searches on these gatherings. This is especially important for the MPS. Discoveries at a public level are impacted by powers that have a higher pace of pause and search. The people who believed themselves to be from BME community were around two times as liable to be halted and searched than the individuals who believed themselves to be White. This has fallen since the year finishing March 2011 (the time of the latest registration giving populace breakdowns by identity), when those from BME communities were multiple times bound to be looked than the people who were White. The relating figure for the individuals who are from Black (or Black British) nationalities has tumbled from north of 6 times bound to multiple times almost certain over a similar period.

The adverse consequence of unbalanced utilization of abilities and unfortunate police and local area relations on open perception ought not be undervalued. The harm can be sweeping and dependable. disproportionate utilization of abilities prompts more Black individuals being brought into the law enforcement framework, upsetting schooling, decreasing work availing opportunities and separating communities. It can add to discernments among the general population and cops with respect to Black individuals and wrongdoing. It might likewise impact how the police distribute assets, which thusly can speed up the awkward nature found in the law enforcement framework and impression of a connection amongst nationality and criminality. Among youthful Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals, anxiety toward struggle with the police, which could bring them into the law enforcement framework, makes them abridge their opportunity at a crucial time in their turn of events. For instance, they could keep away from specific spots or social events so as not to come to police consideration.

Quantitative data. Likelihood of individuals stopped and searched from the end of March 2011 till March 2015.

Figure 4. Probability of being halted and looked by self-characterized ethnic gathering, contrasted and those from White ethnic gatherings, England and Wales, year finishing March 2011 contrasted and year finishing March 2015.

Figure 5. disproportionate use of Stop and Search on BAME communities CJS Reports.

The figure represents the number of search and stop encountered by the people during the period of 2010- 2019

Figure 6. Probability of having utilization of power strategies utilized, by BAME bunch, contrasted with those from white ethnic gatherings, England and Wales, 2019/20.

The figure represents the number of search and stopped encountered during 2019-2020 interval.

Key outcomes by the end of March 2020:

There were 558,973 stops and searches led under segment 1 PACE (and related regulation) by police in England and Wales (barring Greater Manchester Police who couldn't give stand-still and search information in 2019/20). This was an increment of 192,061 (52%) contrasted and the earlier year (366,912). The Metropolitan Police administration represents half of the increment in the quantity of stops and searches in most recent year.