Stop and search is one of the less effective tactics to tackle rising violence such as knife crime, according to the results of a study.
Research by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), a charity funded by the Home Office to combat youth violence, found that other tactics – such as community-led focused deterrence, putting more officers on the streets in troubled areas or mentoring and diversion for potential suspects – produced bigger cuts in violence.
The charity says its study “casts doubt on the effectiveness of increasing the use of stop and search to reduce violent crime”.
Stop and search is one of the most controversial police powers because people from ethnic minorities – especially young black men – are disproportionately targeted for its use, leading to mistrust and trauma.
Some rightwing commentators and politicians have called for increased stop and search when concerns rise about violence such as knife crime. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK party leader, made the point several times during his general election campaign.
The most effective anti-violence tactic was found to be focused deterrence, which achieved a 33% reduction in incidents, six times greater than stop and search.
Focused deterrence involves police working with local services – such as health, education and housing – and community organisations to identify those most likely to commit violence, then working with them when they are young.
In Glasgow, the average age of those taking part in deterrence initiatives was 16, and it costs £1,500 for each participant. A £7m pilot using focused deterrence is under way in five areas – Coventry, Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester and Wolverhampton – and is funded by the Home Office.
Mentoring and diversion reduced violence by 21%, reoffending by 19% and all offending by 14%, the study found. The best results were achieved when the mentoring was carried out by counsellors rather than teachers or police officers.
Hotspot policing, where officers stage high-visibility patrols, cut violence by 14% and drug offences by 30%. The study by the YEF examined research from around the world on each of the anti-violence tactics.
Stop and search achieved a 5% cut in violence in England and Wales, the study found, though in the US the reduction was 13%.
In 2022-23, police used stop and search powers more than 500,000 times in England and Wales. Most searches found nothing, with 14% leading to an arrest and 3% finding a weapon carried illegally, the study says.
Officers need reasonable suspicion to use the power, and six out of 10 searches were for alleged drug possession.
Black people are four times more likely to be subject to a stop and search than white people, and the tactic is a key part of the racial fault line between police and the communities they serve.
Jon Yates, the executive director of the YEF, said: “Stop and search is an essential police power, but simply increasing the numbers of searches is no silver bullet on knife crime. When used poorly, it has little effect on violence and erodes trust in the police.
“If we want less knife crime, we have to focus more on the other important things that our police do: like regularly being present in areas where violence is high, making sure that children arrested with knives get corrective support fast and targeting those heavily involved in violence. It’s not about being tough or soft on crime, we have to be smart. We have to do what works.”
Rick Muir, the director of the Police Foundation thinktank, said: “The evidence shows stop and search is most effective and has the least negative impact on community confidence when it is used sparingly, with ‘reasonable grounds’ and on the basis of sound intelligence.”
