Home Office defends rise in police stop and search complaints

The number of complaints made about "stop and search" incidents have risen by nearly a quarter, the police watchdog said today.

Police forces in England and Wales received 536 complaints about stop and search in the last financial year, up from 434, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.

Stop and search grievances made up 3% of complaints by black people, the report revealed.

Opponents of stop and search say it unfairly targets minority groups, but the recent spate of high-profile knife crimes has led to greater use of the powers.

Figures released earlier this year showed police carried out 955,000 stop and searches in 2006/07, up 9%.

Black people are seven times more likely to be stopped as white people, Ministry of Justice statistics showed.

The overall number of complaints against the police remained steady, after rises in recent years, today's report found.

The 43 forces received 28,963 complaints, ranging from impoliteness to assault.

Most concerned failures to investigate crime properly or abusive language or behaviour.

There was also a 9% increase in the number of complaints from Asian people, investigators found.

Of the stop and search grievances, only 169 needed to be investigated, and 88% of those were found to be unfounded.

Officers from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said the figures needed to be seen "in the context of over 950,000 stop and searches carried out annually in England and Wales".

Craig Mackay, chief constable of Cumbria Constabulary, who leads ACPO on stop and search policing, said: "Used fairly, Stop & Search has proven to be a powerful tool for tackling and preventing crime to the benefit of all."

He added that the use of stop and search where criminal activity is suspected "must be justified by reasonable suspicion".

"Officers are also required by law to justify their actions to any individual they stop," he said.

"Any individual who feels that they have not been treated in a manner consistent with this approach can report that either to their local police force or to independent authorities including the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

"Where there are lessons that can be learnt ACPO is determined to ensure that they are acted on to the improvement of the police service."

But Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti said: "Stop and search is one tool of policing but use it as a bludgeon not a rapier and you alienate far more people than you protect.

"Formal complaints about stop and search are inevitably the tip of the iceberg, as the young and most vulnerable lack the confidence to complain."

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said: "The overall number of complaints on stop and search last year represents less than 0.5% of the overall numbers of stop and search.

"This indicates that the police are conducting themselves in the overwhelming majority of cases without complaint.

"Unless exceptional circumstances apply, the use of stop and search against the individual requires reasonable suspicion.

"The police have been working with community partners to raise awareness and understanding on why stop and search and stop and account powers are used.

"At the same time, the police are raising awareness of what a member of public can expect when they are stopped and what to do if you are not satisfied on how the stop was dealt with."