Let’s start with the figures. It is indisputable that stop and search is discriminatory - between April 2019 and March 2020, there were 563,837 stop and searches in England and Wales, 76 per cent of which resulted in no further action.
Black people were nine times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. Stops under section 60, where no reasonable suspicion is required, rose by 35 per cent to 18,081, with four per cent leading to an arrest.
The rationale for making the easing of restrictions permanent is explained as a means to tackle knife crime. However, the easing of section 60 is likely to increase racial discrimination, criminalise more children, particularly young black men, erode trust in the police and exacerbate marginality.
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