Hope Brotherton investigates the racial profiling in police stop and search measures in Birmingham
In three months, there have been three terrorist attacks within the UK
That's a fact.
But, countless others have been thwarted by police teams across the country. It's a truth that can not be ignored. But another truth that can not be overlooked is the racial disproportionality of individuals who are stopped and searched by the police each year.
Recent figures from the Home Office state, "there were 386,474 stops and searches conducted by police in England and Wales," last year alone. This figure from 2016, was a 28 per cent drop on the previous year's report and is a strong representation of a continuing downward trend.
However, despite this fall, there is still concern among ethnic minority groups that racial discrimination is still a prevalent reason for being stopped and searched on the streets all over the country, and in particular the nation's second city: Birmingham.
In 2015, the Birmingham Mail published an article claiming that black minority ethnic groups were three times more likely to get stopped and searched by the West Midlands Police Force. At the time of its publication, the article was challenged by Computational Journalists at Cardiff University, who confirmed the story’s findings. The journalist who compiled this piece, Jonathan Walker, declined to comment on the current disproportionalities in the Birmingham area without analyzing the city's latest statistics first.
Now, two years later similar findings have emerged. In the first three months of 2017, nearly 3,000 members of the second city’s public were stopped and searched by the police.
While this figure does not even amount to one percent of the city's population, it does call for a number of questions to be asked.
One of the most pressing concerns is the ongoing racial disproportionality of those who are subject to stop and search procedure. The latest figures demonstrate a disproportional level of stop and searches, for those who self identify as a "Black or Black British – African (B2)." These individuals are twice as likely to be stopped by the police in comparison to those who identify as White British (W1).
The above maps are indicators of where stop and searches were conducted across the West Midlands and are divided into officer-defined and self-defined ethnicities.
The number of stop and searches carried out for every 1,000 people were cross-analysed against the self-defined ethnicity category. Those who identified as White British were likely to be stopped every second person in a thousand. This outcome was also similar for those who identified as White and Black Caribbean and Asian British (Pakistani). However, not all groups faired the same representation. Individuals whose ethnicity fell into any other White Mixed Ethnic background (W9) were three times more likely to get stopped by the police in comparison to the other three ethnic groups.
According to the West Midland's Police Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, "Significant progress has been made in stop and search thanks to a joint action plan by the West Midlands Police and myself."
The current West Midlands Police and Crime Plan for 2016 – 2020 states that the West Midlands Police is the "lead force" in the nation in regards to their use of stop and search procedure. This finding is supported by a Home Office report which says the national average for arrests after a stop and search is a mere 16 per cent. In the West Midlands, this figure currently stands at just under 20 per cent, demonstrating an appropriate use of police powers. However, Mr Jamieson went on to acknowledge that more could be done to improve stop and searches across the county. He was particularly interested in making the rights of stop and search procedure clearer to the younger demographic. However, there is a widespread belief that all individuals regardless of their age should know their rights when being stopped and searched.
On 7 June 2017, the latest Commission report was released by West Midlands Police and will no doubt bring about further changes with regards to racial proportionality in stop and searches.
Quoted in the Birmingham Mail, Chief Superintendent Chris Todd stated, “Stop and search powers are a vital tool for protecting people and reducing crime." He acknowledged that due to the powers outlined in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, every year many offenders are correctly identified as a result. He also reinforced the improvements in the disproportionality of stop and search, as six years ago black people were 4.6 times more likely to be stopped than their white counterparts and is a figure that continues to fall and now currently stands at only half of that figure.
Let this be a stark reminder of changing societal values in the multi-cultural melting pot that is England's second city: Birmingham.
