Socio-Political Context

Socio-Political Context

1. The use of stop and search powers by the police has been the most controversial issue in debates about policing ethnic minority communities.

2. As the late Bernie Grant, formerly MP for Haringey said:

   • “nothing has been more damaging to the relationship between the police and the black community than the ill judged use of stop and search powers. For young black men in particular, the humiliating experience of being repeatedly stopped and searched is a fact of life, in some parts of London at least. It is hardly surprising that those on the receiving end of this treatment should develop hostile attitudes towards the police. The right to walk the streets is a fundamental one, and one that is quite rightly jealously guarded”.

3. 2017

   • Recorded knife crime up 20%
   • Recorded gun crime up 23%
   • Largest increase in knife crime is in London up 40%
   • Robberies at knife point up to 13,000
   • Rape at knife point low, but increased significantly to 142
   • Huge increase in acid throwing attacks

4. 2018

   • 132 murders in London
   • First time in February 2018 that the murder rate was higher than New York

5. 2019

   • 48 people stabbed to death this year