OFFICIAL FIGURES have found the number of stop and searches carried out by police in England and Wales has increased by 32% in a year.

The statistics, published by the Home Office, discovered in the 12 months to March 2019 there were 370,454 stop and searches conducted by forces under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace), up from 279,728 in the previous 12 months.

White people made up the largest ethnicity group searched by police at 187,761, followed by black people, who were stopped 70,648 times.

Despite this, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people were still over four times more likely to be stopped than white people and those who identified as black or black British were 9.7 times more likely to be stopped and searched by an officer than a white person.

Professor Ben Bradford, co-author of the report, warned that its widespread use could make it less effective. “It’s emblematic of a certain kind of policing that’s enforcement led,” he said. “That does cause problems when it’s not targeted correctly.”

Gracie Bradley, policy and campaigns manager at Liberty, commented the rise in racial discrimination showed why increasing stop and search was “wrong”. “This approach demonstrates just how little concern the government have for the harm caused to the people and communities subjected to such severe policing,” she said.

In March this year Mayor of London Sajid Javid enhanced section 60 powers, giving police officers more scope to stop and search people without reasonable suspicion.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Stop and search helps to seize deadly weapons from our streets and is an important tool in the fight against violent crime. “We have always been clear that no one should be stop and searched because of their race and will continue to support the police in fair and intelligence-led use of the tactic.”