Police use of stop and search powers in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland has dramatically reduced as a result of new measures designed to improve fairness and legitimacy, a new report reveals.
The number of stop searches carried out in the county has fallen from 28,000 in 2011 to a current annual position of around 1,947 according to latest 2015 figures. It follows a scrutiny programme designed to tackle disproportionality and increase accountability.
As a result, use of stop and search powers have reduced from an average of 75 per day in 2011 to 5.3 per day in 2015. In addition, disproportionality rates have reduced within the Black/White and Asian/White communities from 8:1 and 4:1 to current rates of Black/White 4:1 and Asian/White 1.4:1 in 2015.
The figures are due to be formally presented to members of the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner’s Ethics, Integrity and Complaints Committee at a meeting on Friday 18 March. The meeting, which is open to the public to observe, starts at 2.00pm.
The report, written by ACC Phil Kay, shows how much progress the Force has made since 2011 in an effort to tighten stop and search procedures, increase transparency and develop more effective use of the powers.
Commenting ahead of the meeting, Sir Clive said: “There’s no doubt that Leicestershire Police has made huge strides in more effective, targeted use of stop and search and tackling disproportionality among our black and Asian communities. Stop searches have reduced by 26,000 annually since 2011 which means greater care and attention is being paid to the legitimacy of this approach.
“The Force has implemented a number of improvements to improve accountability and transparency, including mapping stop and search encounters on the national Police.UK website which is accessible by the public and encouraging use of body-worn videos to record all stop and search encounters. It has also trained more than 900 officers in the use of stop and search to achieve greater balance and fairness.
“This isn’t cause to become complacent, however. As the recent HMIC shows, Leicestershire still has work to do to improve transparency processes and ensure that stop and search powers are used to protect the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland in a way that reassures our communities.
“The PCC is charged with making that happen and monitoring work will continue in the months ahead to ensure the Force is meeting the standards expected nationally and continues its positive performance.”
The HMIC’s inspection in September 2015 reviewed the Force’s response to the Best Use of Stop Search (BUSS) scheme it implemented in June 2014. It identified three areas where the Force still had to progress to make including increasing the number of categories of outcomes that could be recorded following a stop search, advertising the ‘lay observer scheme’ on the external website and publishing the impact of stop search on young people on the website.
As a result of the three areas of improvement, the Home Secretary suspended Leicestershire Police from the BUSS scheme in February, along with 12 other forces. A follow up inspection will be carried out after three months to identify improvements made and if achieved, readmit the Force into the BUSS scheme.
These areas have been prioritised by the Force to ensure compliance by the end of March 2016.
Meanwhile, members are due to hear a further report on the enforcement of hunting legislation at Friday’s meeting.
There are currently five offences linked to hunt activity under investigation in the county – four allegations of assault on hunt saboteurs and one on a member of a hunt. Since 2010, there have been four investigations relating to the legislation. Two of these have resulted in court fines and two have been discontinued by the CPS.
The Force’s Operation Blackthorn promotes engagement with both hunt saboteurs and hunt members with a purpose of developing relationships between the police, the hunting community and the hunt saboteurs. In addition, the Committee will consider whether or not police officers riding with the hunt are in breach of the Code of Ethics.
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Posted on Monday 9th May 2016