2,000 More People Stopped and Searched in 2013/14

The PSNI have released stop and search statistics for the financial year from April 2013 to March 2014 [1]. Stop and search has been coming under more scrutiny throughout the United Kingdom. However in Northern Ireland, during 2013/14 over 2,000 more people were stopped and searched than in the previous year [2].

Policing Board – Stop and Search Review

In previous posts, I have been critical of aspects of the use of stop and search powers by the PSNI [1, 2]. Problems that I pointed out included:

• the very low arrest rate of approximately 5% arising from stop searches
• that at times, in some areas, the arrest rate was below 1%
• that searches under Police and Criminal Evidence legislation is drive by searches for drugs
• the stopping and searching of children as young as 1-year-old

Therefore, the recent release of the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s Thematic Review on stop and search was welcome [3].

Stopping and Searching Infants

I recently scrutinized the statistics provided by the PSNI on their use of stop and search powers. This analysis showed that police use of stop and search was somewhat ineffective as a crime prevention tool and wasted a lot of police time. During the course of my research I came across an article from 2009 which stated that the PSNI stopped and searched a 3-year old child [1]. I thought this must be a mistake, or a case of journalistic over-exaggeration. However, the article seemed credible when reading it so, I decided to try and discover if it was a fact that the PSNI stopped and searched a 3-year old. I also wanted to see if this was an anomaly. Therefore, I submitted a Freedom of Information request to the PSNI to find out the age of the youngest person who was stopped and searched each year. The information I received back was fairly astonishing.

PSNI – Stop and Search Analysis

Recently, I was looking at the PSNI statistics on Stop and Search*. The statistics are published on the PSNI website [1]. By coincidence, later that day, a major report on Stop and Search in England and Wales was published by the London-based drugs charity, Release [2]. The report was critical of police tactics in relation to stop and search. It found that black people are over 6 times more likely to be stopped and searched, compared to whites. Those from the Asian community, or of mixed race, are also more likely to be stopped and searched compared to white people. The report also found that stop and search is driven by searches for drugs, as over half of all stop searches are for drugs. According to the report only around 7% of stop searches lead to an arrest.