Black people more likely to be stopped and searched in Cambs
Black people were 7.95 times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by Cambridgeshire[1] Constabulary between April and July 2023. The Home Office figures show the Cambridgeshire force was second-worst in the East of England according to this indicator of inequality, and significantly worse than London's Metropolitan Police.
The number of stop and searches per 1,000 residents carried out by Cambridgeshire Police between April and July was 9.338 for black or black British people, and 1.174 for white people. White people were less likely to be stopped and searched by Cambridgeshire Police than all ethnic minority groups.
Amongst the Asian or Asian British population, 2.58 searches were undertaken per 1,000 residents. This figure was 2.807 for the 'mixed' category and 2.386 for 'Chinese or other ethnic group'.
Cambridgeshire Police Superintendent Robin Sissons said: “Stop and search is vital tactic that we use to keep the public safe. We know it can be an intrusive police power, and as such, must be used professionally and with great care.
“It is an area we diligently scrutinise to ensure we are policing fairly. We have a community scrutiny group, who support us by providing valuable feedback on the use of this power in addition to our internal supervisory procedures.
“We are actively addressing our approach to disproportionality in the use of stop and search, which is tracked and reviewed to ensure we uphold an ethical position and proportionate and lawful use of this power.”
The proportion the force's stops and searches in which no further action was taken across all ethnic groups was 67.5 percent, between April and July.
Norfolk Constabulary was the worst force in the East of England for stop and searches amongst the Black community. Black people were 15.4 times more likely then white people to be stopped and searched by Norfolk Police between April and July. There were 1.395 white people impacted and 21.48 black people impacted per 1,000 residents.
Taking into account the rest of the East of England, the figure for Suffolk[4] Police was just below Cambridgeshire's, as black people were 6.72 times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched here. The disparity rate for forces in Hertfordshire[5] was 5.27 times, in Essex[6] was 5.08 times, and in Bedfordshire[7] was 3.97 times.
Under the Metropolitan Police Force, black people were 3.28 times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched over the four months. Across the England and Wales, the disparity rate was 4.1 times in the year to March 2023.
More stop and search statistics related to Cambridgeshire Constabulary can be found at Police.uk here[8].
Do you want more of the latest Cambridgeshire news as it comes in? Sign up to our dedicated newsletter to make sure you never miss a big story from Cambridge or anywhere else in the county. You can also sign up to our dedicated Peterborough, Traffic and Crime newsletters for the latest updates on the topics you are most interested in.[9]
References
- ^ Cambridgeshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Romsey councillor accused of racism after formal complaint made (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ CCTV released after racially aggravated assault at Cambridge service station (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Suffolk (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Hertfordshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Essex (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Bedfordshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ found at Police.uk here (www.police.uk)
- ^ You can also sign up to our dedicated Peterborough, Traffic and Crime newsletters for the latest updates on the topics you are most interested in. (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)