BROMLEY BRIEFINGS PRISON FACTFILE - Prison Reform Trust

Minority ethnic prisonersAt the end of December 2005, one in four ofthe prison population, 19,549 prisoners, wasfrom a minority ethnic group. 190 Thiscompares to one in eleven of the generalpopulation.Of all those sentenced to custody in the lastquarter of 2005 more than one in five wasfrom a minority ethnic group. 191Overall black prisoners account for thelargest number of minority ethnic prisoners(57%) and their numbers are rising. 192Between 1999 and 2002 the total prisonpopulation grew by just over 12% but thenumber of black prisoners increased by 51%. 193At the end of June 2005, 35% (6,863) ofminority ethnic prisoners were foreignnationals. 194In 2002 there were more African Caribbeanentrants to prison (over 11,500) than therewere to UK universities (around 8,000). 196Black people are just over six times morelikely than white people to be stopped andsearched. Black people are three times morelikely to be arrested than white people.Youngblack people and young people of ‘mixed’ethnicity, when sentenced, are more likely toreceive more punitive sentences than youngwhite people. Whereas black young offendersaccounted for 6% of the total offences in 2005-6,they received 11.6% of custodial sentences. 197Around 40% of black and Asian prisonersreport having felt unsafe, and only twothirdssay that staff treat them withrespect. 198Out of the British national prisonpopulation, 11% are black and 5% are Asian.For black Britons this is significantly higher thanthe 2% of the general population theyrepresent. 195190. Home Office (2005) Population in Custody, Quarterly Brief September to December 2005191. Home Office (2005) Population in Custody, Quarterly Brief September to December 2005192. Ibid.193. HM Prison Service and Commission for Racial Equality (2003) Implementing Race Equality in Prisons - a shared agenda for change, London: HM PrisonService194. Home Office (2005) Population in Custody, Quarterly Brief September to December 2005195. Ibid.196. HM Prison Service and Commission for Racial Equality (2003) Implementing Race Equality in Prisons - a shared agenda for change, London: HM PrisonService197. House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, Young Black People and the Criminal Justice System, Second Report of Session 2006-07, 22 May 2007198. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, Annual Report 2005/2006, 30 January 2007, p. 50www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk 23