ENGAGE Submits Response to Home Office Review in to Counter-terrorism Powers

ENGAGE has written a response to the Review of Counter-terrorism and Security Powers currently being undertaken by the Home Office. You can read the ENGAGE response here.

The scope of the review includes the use of stop and search powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act. The use of stop and search powers has come under heavy criticism.

“In 6 out of 10 Member States where minority and majority respondents were surveyed – minority respondents were stopped more often by the police.” This is when the majority population lives in the same areas as a minority group.

“The groups who said they were stopped most frequently by the police because of their ethnic or immigrant background… characteristically have darker skin than those who indicated they had the least experience of discriminatory police stops.”

“Taking those groups who indicated they were stopped three or more times by the police in the last 12 months, only minority groups qualify in this category.”

One of the adverse effects that this disproportional targeting of ethnic minorities during stop and search operations has is that trust in the police erodes.

Only “27% of respondents who were stopped by the police and did consider it to be a result of ethnic profiling said they tended to trust the police. Hence – a clear connection between perceptions of discriminatory treatment at the hands of the police and overall levels of trust in policing.”

This lack of trust has dangerous consequences in that that “13% of minority victims didn’t report to the police because of very negative perceptions and experiences of policing.”

Specifically on the use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act employed by Britain, a guide by the FRA on Understanding and Preventing Discriminatory Ethnic Profiling reported that “in the period April 2007-March 2008, under section 44(1) of the Terrorism Act, there were 699 arrests from 65,217 stops, which gives a hit rate of 1%.”

A hit rate is “the proportion of stops and searches that find evidence of law breaking, and which can result in action under the criminal law – such as an arrest.”

“For section 44(2) of the Terrorism Act, 553 persons were arrested from 56,061 stopped, with a hit rate of 1% again. Given the resources demanded of these policing operations, a hit rate of 1% would seem very low. In comparison, the negative impact on certain communities of anti-terrorism policing activities post 9/11 are high given that the majority in any suspect community are not connected with terrorism.”

Currently, the UK is the only country among the EU-27 that systematically records and publishes data on all police stops, including the ethnicity of the individuals stopped. This vital accountability tool, however, may be scrapped under new proposals.

ENGAGE, in our response to the review, have urged the government to reconsider stop and search powers and reiterated that “the disproportionate use of stop and search powers against Muslims and other minorities under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act violates anti-discrimination and equalities legislation, threatens social cohesion, undermines trust in police forces and imperils the important role communities have to play under the Prevent dimension of our counter-terrorism strategy.”

An earlier report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also urged the government to “Stop and Think” about its use of the controversial stop and search powers. Their analysis of the stop and search data also revealed that the powers had been used disproportionately against black and Asian minorities. In their recommendation on “good policing”, they emphasised that fundamental to engaging positively rather than negatively with communities is “the building of confidence and trust that police powers will be used without discrimination and in ways that respect human rights.” Without this, the police will never be “good enough.”