Differential treatment in the youth justice system - Equality and ...

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DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN THE YOUTH JUSTICE SYSTEMOf the 49 officers we interviewed, only four had doubts about the value of stop andsearch as a tool to gather intelligence. Most (36) said that they used the stop andsearch powers to gather local intelligence about criminal and gang activity. Thirteenused the power to provide their intelligence systems with descriptions of youngpeople suspected of engaging in criminal activity. In particular some officersmentioned recording descriptions of young people’s clothing. Just over half (33)believed that stop and searches reassure the public, although many elaborated onthis by suggesting that it is the law-abiding public that are reassured by the tactic,not those who are subjected to it:‘[Yes the public are reassured, however,] it depends on what section of thepublic, if someone feels targeted then no but if someone wants to see morepolice officers then yes.’‘The general public are reassured, i.e. those who sit and watch the news.Those who are stopped are not. Some are OK with it others are not.’Although the arrest rate from stop and searches is often criticised, over threequartersof officers believed that whatever the rate, the use of the power wasjustified. The quotes below illustrate commitment to it:‘I think it’s a good tool regardless of the arrest rate.’‘If it is done to reassure the public, should the arrest rate matter?’‘You won’t get an arrest out of every stop search, but it can act as a deterrent.’‘Stop search is about intelligence and it’s a legal requirement. If my team goout and do no stop searches I know they’ve been out there all day not doingtheir job.’We asked officers for their thoughts on why the power receives so much criticism.Almost a quarter thought that critics of the tactic were opposed to its use becausethey believe it is disproportionately targeted at ethnic minorities. Others believed59
UNDERSTANDING THE POLICING OF YOUNG PEOPLEcritics view its use as an infringement of people’s rights and that its use isdisrespectful and invasive. A small number of officers (nine) also believed that thepower is criticised due to the public’s lack of understanding about its use.Just over two-thirds of officers questioned believed that the use of stop and searchimpacted negatively on their relationship with young black and Asian teenagers and afurther eight believed that the power is disproportionately targeted at young black andAsian teenagers. Below is a selection of comments from officers who believed thepower is disproportionately targeted at ethnic minority young people:‘[There are] reasons: locally, the majority of drug dealers are Jamaican orSomali and are located in a specific area. I think the way we target them isproportionate to the intelligence received.’‘They [black teenagers] commit more crimes.’‘In terms of [Area A1] unfortunately the profile of crime we are tasked to dealwith is carried out by black youths.’Outlined below are comments from officers who did not believe the powerdisproportionately targets teenagers from ethnic minorities‘They are not disproportionately targeted but statistics show they are. Bobbiesbeing bobbies if you get someone who is objectively being searched and theyare from a BME [black and ethnic minority] group they will say: ‘It’s justbecause I’m ... ’ so a PC will record the stop to avoid the complaint but will notdo so in another case where there is no such allegation. So this overrepresentsBME stops in the stats.’‘We are not told to go out and target, we are told to target gang-related crime.Our suspects for this crime are black. It’s intelligence led.’‘White people are becoming the minority in the ethnic mix so one would expectthe majority of people to be BME because they are the greater population.’60
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Equality and Human Rights Commissio
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© Equality and Human Rights Commis
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Appendix A: Area profiles 97Appendi
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Tables and figuresPageTables3.1 Pop
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GlossaryBCUBasic Command UnitCJSCri
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAssessing the reas
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPolice training•
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INTRODUCTIONover-represented in rob
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INTRODUCTIONthe increase in prosecu
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INTRODUCTIONIn contrast, a MORI sel
Page 23 and 24: INTRODUCTIONexplanation is that you
Page 25 and 26: INTRODUCTIONin itself, if the socia
Page 27 and 28: RESEARCH METHODS2. Research methods
Page 29 and 30: RESEARCH METHODS29% was white; 6% b
Page 31 and 32: RESEARCH METHODSfor several differe
Page 33 and 34: YOUNG PEOPLE’S ENTRY INTO THE YOU
Page 51 and 52: UNDERSTANDING THE POLICING OF YOUNG
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Page 81 and 82: PASSING THROUGH THE YOUTH JUSTICE S
Page 105 and 106: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS6. Discus
Page 107 and 108: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSdefendant
Page 109 and 110: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSdifficult
Page 111 and 112: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSFurther r
Page 113 and 114: APPENDICES10- to 17-year-old popula
Page 115 and 116: APPENDICES16s making up 23% of the
Page 117 and 118: APPENDICESAppendix B:Tables of offe
Page 119 and 120: APPENDICESCustody record dataTable
Page 121 and 122: APPENDICESTable B7Area C custody re
Page 123 and 124: APPENDICESAppendix C:YOT data sampl
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APPENDICESTable C3ONS estimated 10-
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APPENDICESTable C5Profile of crimes
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APPENDICESTable C6 Profile of crime
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APPENDICESTable C7aCase profile% Ma
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APPENDICESTable C8Proportion of off
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Table C10Proportion of disposals gi
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Table C12Proportion of sentenced di
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Appendix D:Multivariate logistic re
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APPENDICESTable D3Model of prosecut
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APPENDICESTable D6Model of dismissa
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APPENDICESTable D8: Model of Remand
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APPENDICESTable D10Asset sample, mo
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APPENDICESTable D11Asset sample, mo
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Table D13Model of community sentenc
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APPENDICESTable D15 Model of custod
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APPENDICESTable D17Length of custod
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REFERENCESReferencesAudit Commissio
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REFERENCESMirrlees-Black, C., Budd,
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ContactsEnglandEquality and Human R
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