Sussex Police three times more likely to stop black men

12:30pm Tuesday 16th March 2010

By Ben Parsons

Black people in Sussex are almost three times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by police.

The national equality watchdog said its latest survey of police forces showed some officers still suspected people of crime based on the colour of their skin.

Sussex’s stop and search rates for minorities represent a steady improvement since 2004 and are lower than the national average but still show police in the county are more likely to stop black and Asian people than white.

According to the latest figures from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, one in 53 people were stopped and searched by police in Sussex between April 2007 and March 2008.

One in 21 black people and one in 54 Asians were stopped, compared with one in 62 white people.

Police searched black or Asian people 779 times more than white people – making two “excess” stops every day.

Officers can carry out searches if they have “reasonable suspicion” people are carrying stolen goods, illegal drugs or firearms.

Traffic police can stop cars they suspect contain someone who has committed, or is planning to commit, a crime.

Under anti-hooliganism laws police can also search people they believe may be carrying weapons or planning serious violence, while under the Terrorism Act 2000 they can stop people they suspect are terrorists.

Guidelines for the Police and Criminal Evidence Act read: “A person’s age, race, appearance or the fact the person is known to have a previous conviction cannot be used alone or in combination with each other as the reason for searching that person.

Reasonable suspicion cannot be based on generalisations or stereotypical images of certain groups or categories of people.”

Brian Stockham, chairman of the Sussex Police Federation which represents officers, said the figures for the county were skewed because of a large numbers of visitors each year.

He said analysis of stop and search forms issued in the past had shown up to 50% involved people from elsewhere.

He said: “If there were a disproportion of what we call street intervention that needs explanation, people would be held to account.”

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Wilkinson said the force regularly held meetings with people in the community to monitor use of the powers.

He said: “Stop and search is a valuable tool in keeping people safe when it is based on good intelligence and directed to local neighbourhood hot spots.

Any indication of unfair use is identified, explored, understood and, if needs be, addressed.”