Call to increase stop and search

BBC
Sunday October 21, 2007

More young people should be stopped and searched to help tackle knife and gun crime, a leading black police representative says.
Keith Jarrett, the outgoing president of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), said he would be pressing police for such an approach.

He said: "The black community is telling me we have to look at this."

Some senior black police officers have criticised the suggestion fearing it could lead to racial profiling.

Black people are six times more likely to be stopped than white people, according to Home Office figures.

This disparity has led to continued charges of police racism and critics say that increased use of stop and search tactics would inevitably affect the black community disproportionately.

'Victims and perpetrators'

Mr Jarrett will use a speech at the NBPA's annual conference this week to ask Police Minister Tony McNulty and Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair to consider searching more young people.

The suggestion contradicts the approach taken by the NBPA to date which has questioned the high proportion of black people stopped and searched by police.

Mr Jarrett told BBC News 24: "It's not that we should stop and search more black youths. It's not just black people that carry weapons, white people carry weapons as well.

Full article here.