Gloucestershire Police Stop & Search

Preamble

Text circulated relating to the recent HMICFRS report, for comment by the Stop & Search Scrutiny Panel

Stop and Search Update

Last month HMICFRS released the findings of their inspection into Stop and Search, with a focus on disproportionality and the searching of people from minority ethnic groups.

Our use of stop and search is crucial in keeping our communities safe, maintaining public confidence and demonstrating our legitimacy (are we fair and reasonable to all).

In response to this report, a recent internal analysis and our aspiration to continually improve means that as a force we need to focus on the following.

• Ensure that we are transparent in how we use our stop and search powers, how we demonstrate independent scrutiny in conjunction with our community panel, and how we share this information with our local communities. ⁽ⁱ⁾

• Ensure that our stop and search activity is driven by intelligence and operational threat, risk and harm. ⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

• Ensure that we demonstrate good and effective communication skill and conflict management during a search. ⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

• Ensure that Body Worn Video (BWV) is used for every stop search as per force policy. If not that we fully explain on pronto as to the reason why. ^(iv)

• Ensure that our stop and search records are detailed and accurate with regard to 18+1 self-defined and officer defined ethnicity, location (eastings and northings), grounds and object sought. Information quality is really important, they are reviewed by representatives of our local community and uploaded to Police UK. ^(v)

Used correctly Stop and search is a legitimate tactic in keeping all of our communities safe from harm and securing their trust and confidence in us, as their local police. Used incorrectly the damage and division caused across our communities is immeasurable.

Response

The areas of development and focus appear well aligned the HMICFRS report recommendations.

However, consultation with SAR (Stroud Against Racism) along with reference to the HMICFRS report reveals other areas of positive practice that must also be embraced.

Develop positive practice

• Using specially trained group of volunteers, maybe scrutiny panel members, to review BWV footage of randomly selected samples. ^(iv)

• Ensure that statistics relating to disproportionality and the searching of people from minority ethnic groups, especially, is reported back to the scrutiny panel. ⁽ⁱ⁾

• Deliver additional training to neighbourhood and front line officers, giving them an opportunity to learn and discuss factors relating to unconscious bias which leads to disproportionality. ⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

• Allow members of the public to speak to officers during training about their experiences of having stop & search or force used on them, to help officers and staff think about and understand the impact of their actions. ⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

• Investigate practicality of capturing e-mail address so the force can email them a stop-search form including a link to an online survey where they can give feedback. ^(v)

Supplementary questions

During discussion of the draft text a few questions were raised:-

• BWV. To what extent is BWV rolled out within the Constabulary?

• BWV. There reports of BWV misuse. The example given was this newspaper article. What actions are being taken to mitigate?

Suppression of debate

Confidentiality surrounding the long awaited Draft Stop & Search report and responses to it, has prevented proper community consultation on these important issues. Improvements on information dissemination are essential. ⁽ⁱ⁾

_{13th May 2021 Gareth Kitchen}