BLACK and ethnic minority people are more likely to be stopped and searched by West Midlands Police, writes Gurdip Thandi.
In an annual report by West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, figures showed black people are three times more likely and those from ethnic minorities are 1.8 times more likely to be targeted than white individuals.
Data revealed that in 2024- 2025, the force carried out a total of 26,622 stop and searches with body worn video used in 98 per cent of incidents.
Statistics also showed police deployed use of force powers 48,203 times in 2024-2025 with body worn video used in 92 per cent of incidents.
The report said: “We continue to see high rates of Body-Worn Video (BWV) compliance, during both Stop and Search and Use of Force.
“For stop and search, compliance has increased slightly to 98 per cent in 2024-2025, having previously increased from 42 per cent in 2018-2019 to 95 percent in 2021-2022.
“Compliance for Use of Force has continued to increase and is now at 92 per cent, up from 87 per cent in the previous year.
“In December 2024, WMP changed its policy to save all Stop and Search and Use of Force BWVs for 12 months as standard, up from 12 weeks as standard previously, with the intention of improving transparency and governance.
“Positive outcome rates, which is the rate at which an illegal item is found during a stop and search, has remained static at 30 per cent, during 2024-2025, having previously been 29 per cent in the previous year.
“Disproportionality ratios show how many times more likely it is, that a member of an ethnic group is to be stopped and searched, compared to the white population.
“Stop and search data shows that Asian individuals are 1.8 times more likely, and Black individuals 3.0 times more likely, to be searched than white individuals.
“For use of force incidents, the pattern of disproportionality differs. Asian individuals are 0.8 times less likely to be subjected to force compared to white individuals, whereas black individuals are 1.9 times more likely.
“There is a continued focus to offer a feedback mechanism on stop and search interactions, with officers using a unique QR code on their phone, that people who have been stopped and searched can scan to give feedback on matters such as, how fairly they felt they were treated by the officer and whether they understood why they were stopped.
“We continue to see around two per cent of all those stopped and searched give feedback this way. This is now WMP policy for the QR Code to be offered where applicable. We will continue to raise awareness of the QR code, to encourage public to tell us about their experiences.”
The issue was scheduled to be discussed at a WMP and Crime Panel meeting this month.
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)
