On the 19th of June, 2023, Home Secretary Suella Braverman informed all police forces in England and Wales to “ramp up” the use of stop and search powers in efforts to stop knife crime and the “dangerous culture” of carrying weapons. This is a concerning development from the Home Secretary, when the disproportionate use of Stop and Search on minoritised communities has been well documented, as demonstrated by the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice Board’s Identifying Disproportionality in the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice System, which provides nine recommendations on the use of Stop and Search powers. Moreover, the Home Secretary’s comments follow a trend of increasing police powers, for example, through the Public Order Act 2023 and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which aim to crack down on the right to protest and extend the existing stop and search laws to protest activity.
In 2022, an additional new power was introduced to allow officers to stop and search individuals who the courts have issued a Serious Violence Reduction Order (SVRO) to. Under this power the officer can conduct the search without needing to have reasonable grounds or pre-authorisation from a senior officer. In Dorset, Black people are the most likely to get stopped and searched at 13.404 per 1,000 compared to White counterparts at 0.491 per 1,000. In Bristol, Black people are 5.63 times more likely to be stopped and searched.
Increased stop and searches are not the most effective tool in decreasing knife crime - Bristol decreased its use of Stop and Search from 7,496 instances in 2021 to 6,137 instances in 2022, and achieved a 3.1% increase in find rates. According to the Avon and Somerset Police, only 16% of the 994 stops and searches carried out for the possession of bladed articles had a positive outcome rate. After the fatal stabbing of Adam Ali Ibrahim in Castle Park on January 31st, a majority of Bristol councillors agreed to spend more than £650,000 on installing and improving CCTV on local authority land, alongside more provision of emergency bleed kits and training to night-time venues. Bristol has already demonstrated suitable alternative strategies which do not increase distrust of the police or result in escalated violence.
With Chief Constable of the Avon and Somerset Police Sarah Crew admitting the force is institutionally racist last week and working through the recommendations set in the Identifying Disproportionality report, BSWN invite the Avon and Somerset Police to inform the public how they will navigate the advice from the Home Secretary in light of the disproportionate use of Section 60 powers against minoritised communities in the South West while continuing to commit to becoming an anti-racist organisation.