Black and Asian people are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police in Greater Manchester as the force's use of these powers increases. The use of stop and search increased by around 20 pc in the last year, with the figures more than doubling in the latest period compared to the previous year.
There were 5,070 stop and search encounters from April to June of this year, according to GMP – a 139.9 pc increase compared to the same period in 2021. This increase has been intentional as the police force seek to increase arrests.
The police have powers to stop and search if they have 'reasonable grounds' to suspect someone is carrying illegal drugs, weapons or stolen property. Special powers can also be used in specific areas to stop and search without suspicion, which has also contributed to the recent rise in the city-region.
The ratio of individuals from ethnic minorities being subject to stop and search by the force did fall last year – but the powers are still used disproportionately. Between July 2021 and June 2022, Black people were 3.7 times more likely to be stopped and searched than White people with Asian people 1.7 times more likely.
This is less than the same period in the previous year when Black people were 4.1 times more likely to be stopped and searched and Asian people twice as likely – although the ratio for other ethnic minorities has remained at 2.2. However, Greater Manchester's race equality panel says this is still too high.
Elizabeth Cameron, who chairs the panel, said the data is 'positive', but she believes that stop and search should not be disproportionately used at all. She said: "Our version of good is it's the same, because we're still just people.
"As far as we're concerned, 3.7 times more likely still means there's a possibility of racial profiling in these people being stopped and searched."
Ms Cameron urged GMP to learn from these findings and work with others to make sure the disproportionate use of stop and search continues to decrease. She recommended that the force puts action plans in place to address these issues through a process of 'consultation, collaboration and coproduction'.
But she said the panel needs more information from the police, including disproportionality data relating to arrests and demographic differences. The total number of arrests by GMP doubled in the 2021/22 financial year.
Increasing arrests has been a priority for the failing force which was put in special measures following a damning inspection report nearly two years ago. Speaking at a police, fire and crime panel meeting last week, deputy mayor Bev Hughes said the increased use of stop and search is also intentional.
Responding to questions from councillors, she reassured the panel that the number of complaints have fallen despite the use of stop and search rising. However, she said disproportionality is being monitored closely by the force.
Assistant chief constable Wasim Chaudhry also explained that there are a 'number of structures' in place to provide additional scrutiny of the police. This includes a board chaired by the chief constable himself which reviews the use of force, stop and search and other broader powers of arrest as well as independent community scrutiny panels and independent advisory groups.
A GMP spokesperson said: "The Chief Constable has been clear when he has spoken publicly about stop-and-search that we hadn’t been using these powers enough to combat some of the serious violence that we’ve seen in our communities, to help keep our streets and people safe – and our proactivity will only continue to increase. In comparison to most similar-sized forces our stop-and-search figures were low, and it has been a priority of ours to increase the number of suspicious people and vehicles we are stopping and searching as well as increasing the number of arrests we are making, which is now up nearly 65 pc overall in the last year alone."
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