Black people ‘eight times more likely to be searched’

Black people are eight times more likely to be stopped and searched and four times more likely to be arrested than white people, official figures showed today.

The statistics also show Asians are twice as likely to be searched as white people and the total number of searches on people of all ethnicities has risen sharply in the past 12 months to the highest level in 20 years.

Other figures in the Ministry of Justice report show that black people are more likely to receive a custodial sentence than white offenders if convicted at crown court and the proportion in jail is also far greater.

The findings will stimulate renewed debate about allegedly disproportionate treatment of black people across the criminal justice system and prompt concern that police efforts to avoid targeting by race might be proving insufficient.

Separate figures for London show the disparity was much less in the capital with black residents only four times more likely to be stopped and searched. Black people were arrested in 12 per cent of cases compared with white arrests in 10 per cent of cases.

Today's report cautions that other factors such as the greater street presence of different ethnic groups, with the use of outdated statistics from the 2001 census on population, might account for some of the apparent targeting of the ethnic minority population.

It warns, however, that "disproportionality" remains a "critical issue" and "negative police practices" can damage public confidence.

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