APCC response to Government stop and search announcement
David Munro, the APCC Lead on Equality, Diversity and Human Rights (EDHR) and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, said the following:
“The overall regulation of stop and search by individual police forces is much more thorough than it ever was and so it is right that senior police officers are able to use their wide experience and judgement to examine critically all their powers and duties to tackle violence and keep communities safe. I also welcome the extension to all 43 police forces, including British Transport Police, which will assist in reducing bureaucracy and allow officers to use Section 60 controls much faster when it is clear it is in the public interest to do so.
“However, statistically, those who identify as BME are still likely to be stopped and searched more than those who identify as white. We must continue to work together to make sure that we don’t return to the practices of a decade ago, when stop and search was used with much greater frequency than it is now, was poorly regulated and used much more indiscriminately. That is why I am pleased that police forces will still be required to record data around stop and search and monitor its fair and proper use and that the College of Policing is consulting on new guidance for forces on community engagement around stop and search.”