Race is an "issue" in stop and search, say police

The National Black Police Association says there's an unwillingness by some officers to acknowledge there is a race issue with stop and search.

The organisation's vice-president, Nick Glynn, says there's too much evidence to suggest there is not a problem.

Recent stats from the Equality and Human Rights Commission show black people are six times more likely to be stopped than those who are white.

Critics say stop and search unfairly targets the black community.

Mr Glynn says there's a reluctance to "accept that people can still be stopped and searched on the grounds of their race. It does happen, whether it be consciously or unconsciously".

Earlier this year an inquiry by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary found that more than half of all forces in England and Wales were ignoring some rules on stop and search and that 27% of them may have been illegal.

Fourteen-year-old Joseph from London has been stopped and searched many times, the first time when he was 10 years old. He believes it is down to race.

"I understand the whole searching me because I'm black thing, because it would be me getting searched and my friends wouldn't," he said. "They would search me but my [white] friends wouldn't."

Garry Shewan, assistant chief constable at Greater Manchester Police, says the police do have some challenges to face over the next couple of years when policing young people.

"We have to explain why we're doing what we're doing, we have to learn that the best way to get a response and understanding and acceptance and assistance from young people is to put the effort and time into why you're there in the first place," he said.

Joseph says stop and search is now the first thing that comes to mind when he sees the police.

"Most people wouldn't expect that from me because I'm 14," he said. "But because I'm tall I get stopped and searched quite a bit."

Mohammed Aziz defends the measure calling it the "greatest deterrent the police have".

He's been stopped and searched in the past and is now a PC for the Metropolitan Police.

"[If] you take away stop and search crime will go up," he said.

Stop and search is the subject of a 1Xtra documentary on Sunday night. You can hear Sound of the Police in full on 1Xtra Stories at 21:00 BST.

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