Racial bias in police stop and search getting worse, report reveals
Despite reforms, black people are nine times more likely than white people to be checked for drugs
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Black Britons are increasingly likely to be stopped and searched by police compared with white people, according to shocking new figures that challenge Theresa May’s attempt to reform the controversial power. The most authoritative analysis of the data since the Stephen Lawrence inquiry nearly 20 years ago found that black Britons are now nine times more likely to be stopped and searched for drugs than white people, despite using illegal substances at a lower rate. In 2014, when home secretary, May announced measures to make stop and search less biased, describing it as “unfair, especially to young black men”. But instead, the study The Colour of Injustice: ‘Race’, drugs and law enforcement in England and Wales found that its use has become more discriminatory.
