EHRC finds police still searching more black and Asian young people

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is writing to police forces with the most disproportionate use of stop and search tactics after publishing a review of the issue across England and Wales.

The review into 42 policing areas during the past five years has found that few police forces have made improvements.

Some police forces have actually increased their use of stop and search against minority ethnic young people.

Nationally, black people are stopped and searched at least six times the rate of white people. Asian people are about twice as likely to be stopped and searched as white people.

Some of the police forces with the most disproportionate use of stop and search powers against black people were Dorset, Hampshire, Leicestershire and Wandsworth.

Separate statistics collated by EHRC show that black and mixed-race young people are three times as likely to be denied bail than young white men.

Commissioner Simon Woolley from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: "It is time that we saw real improvement in these statistics. It is not enough for the police simply to launch new initiatives if those initiatives don't produce results.

"There is little evidence to suggest that targeting black people disproportionately with stop-and-search powers reduces crime."