LONDON: A study by the London School of Economics and the NGO Release revealed on Thursday that in 2009/10, the overall search rate for drugs across the population as in the UK was 10 searches per 1000 people as part of a controversial stop and search programme.
On an average 7 white people were searched per 1000 white population which increasing to 14 per 1000 for those identified as mixed race, 18 per 1000 for those identifying as Asian and to 45 per 1000 for those identifying as black.
In proportion, black people are 6.3 times more likely to be stopped and searched for drugs and Asian people were 2.5 times more likely than white people.
This is despite the fact that drug use is lower among the black and Asian populations when compared to their white counterpart. Across London, Asian and black people are charged for cannabis possession five times more than the rate for white people.
This disproportion shows that black and Asian people are more likely to receive a harsher police response for possession of cannabis, the study found. In 2009/10, the Metropolitan Police charged 78% black people caught with cocaine compared with 44% of whites.
The study also found black and Asian people were subject to court proceedings for drug possession offences 4.5 times more than whites and found guilty 4.5 times more as well. They are also subject to immediate custody at 5 times the rate of white people.
Every year approximately 80,000 people in England and Wales are convicted or cautioned for possession of drugs. In the 15 year period from 1996 to 2011, 1.2 million criminal records were generated due to drug possession laws.
Niamh Eastwood, executive director of Release said, "This research shows that stop and search is not about finding guns or knives but about the police going out and actively looking for people who are in possession of a small amount of drugs, mainly cannabis."
Over 50% of stop and searches are for drugs, 10% are for offensive weapons and less than 1% was for guns. The police in England and Wales stop and search someone for drugs every 58 seconds, the study said. Of the more than half million stop and searches for drugs carried out in 2009/10, only 7% resulted in arrest.
A consultation on how police use stop and search powers was launched on July 2 by home secretary Theresa May. Stop and search is a vital police tool she said, especially important to combat gang, knife and drug offences.
May said, "In the last year in London alone, stop and searches resulted in 45,000 criminals being arrested, including more than 3,000 who were carrying weapons and guns, and more than 7,000 in possession of suspected stolen goods."
"But when it is over-used or when people are targeted when they do not need to be, it is a waste of police time and erodes community confidence in the police," May added.
"The government supports the ability of police officers to stop and search suspects," she said.
More than one million stop and searches are carried out every year - taking up more than 300,000 hours of officer time. On average, only about nine per cent of those incidents results in an arrest and the figures also vary considerably among forces.
May said "I want to see stop and search used only when it's needed, I want to see higher search to arrest ratios, I want to see better community engagement, and I want to see more efficient recording practices across the country".
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