brap

brap 's response to the decision to 'relax' laws on stop and search

brap have a number of grave concerns about recent calls from both the Labour and Conservative parties to relax laws on stop and search.

However, amid growing concern about gang-related violence, it has been suggested that Gordon Brown is likely to recommend reducing 'red tape' on how stop and searches are conducted and recorded by police.

This has been a contentious issue in British policing for some time. Since the early 1980s, many have questioned the high proportion of BME people being stopped and searched by police. Recent figures show that black people were four times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. It is to prevent this type of racial profiling that rules around 'reasonable suspicion' were first introduced. Without the requirement to demonstrate this, past experience would suggest that racial profiling is likely to increase. This could result in the police running a grave risk of further alienating and even criminalising ethnic minority communities.  brap asks whether it necessary to infringe
people's rights in this way?

David Cameron has suggested that reviewing the rules on reasonable suspicion will help protect young black and Asian people (presumably because it is these groups that are more likely to be a victim of and
commit gang violence). The argument that people's rights should sometimes be infringed in the interests of society as whole is an old one. This argument has been used in recent years to justify stop and searches - without reasonable suspicion - to prevent terrorism and protect national security.  Depriving somebody of their rights however should be a very last resort.

The decision to infringe a person's rights needs to be based on a fair balance between the demands of society as a whole and the protection of the individual. The Government will need to find an approach to improving the efficiency of stop and search, whilst maintaining an appropriate regard for the dignity and equality of all those that are stopped.

Reasonable suspicion was introduced to address the concerns of people involved in riots like Brixton and Handsworth. We must not forget that history can teach us a valuable lesson and so cannot ignore the risks that go hand in hand with racial profiling of suspects.

About brap

brap is an equalities and human rights charity based in Birmingham. Over the past 18 months it has secured a number of major national research projects including contracts for the former CEHR (now EHRC) Transition Team, the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, the Finance Hub and
Voice for Change England.

All enquiries in the first instance should be directed to:

Dr Chris Allen, Director of Research & Policy   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

0121 456 7400

www.brap.org.uk

9th Floor Edgbaston House, 3 Duchess Place, Birmingham B16 8NH

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