Stop and searches declined for two years after the Stephen Lawrence report branded the police "institutionally racist" but are now on the rise again, with black people being eight times more likely to be apprehended than whites.

Police must first have reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is breaking the law before stopping and searching someone and all incidences must be recorded.

Karl Josephs, a Birmingham disc jockey has been stopped more than 40 times in the last 10 years and has never been charged with an offence.

Why are the police stopping so many black people? Is the policy unfair?

This Talking Point has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

I feel less inclined to stop ethnic minorities for fear of getting complaints Police Officer, UK

I stopped a motorist for speeding, using a hand-held laser speed meter. He made an official complaint that I only stopped him and ticketed him because he was black. It was 9pm on a winter's evening, I measured the vehicle's speed from a distance of 250 yards. How could I possibly have known what colour he was before I had stopped him? I had to have a meeting with my Chief Inspector to see if I had a problem with ethnic minorities. As a result I feel less inclined to stop ethnic minorities for fear of getting more complaints, and coming to the attention of my superiors.
Police Officer, UK

This is worrying but does not imply the police are necessarily racist. Inner cities which have historically had high crime have also always had a high number of immigrant and second-generation immigrant populations. At the moment those populations are black and Asian, fifty years ago it was the Irish, perhaps in 20 years it'll be Eastern Europeans. To focus on skin colour clouds the real issue - what is it about the structure and culture of the inner cities and other crime hotspots that leads to a crime culture?
James, UK

It's humiliating having a stranger go through your pockets Andy, UK

As a black person, I have been stopped many times in the past and in my experience it depends on where you are. The times I have been stopped I happened to be in the suburbs walking back from a friend's house, never an urban area. It's a bit humiliating having a complete stranger go through your pockets and things, even though I KNOW I have done nothing wrong.
Andy, UK

I am white and I was forever being stopped when I was young. Now I am older I am never stopped. Does this make the police force ageist? No, the fact is that I was a shift worker driving a flash car in the early hours of the morning. I knew I was innocent however, I also knew I looked suspicious. So of course I was stopped. If they didn't stop me they would not be doing their job. My biggest issue with the current UK police force is that too many officers are abrupt, sometimes downright rude and never apologise. If they could get that bit right there would be far fewer problems.
Will, UK

This is ridiculous. If the statistics had shown that result for whites being stopped, no one would even mention it. The policy is correct and needs enforcing, look to the racist elements within the police for any wrongdoing.
Dale, England

Sad, but the truth is the UK and not just the police force is still a racist society. People are not born as police officers, the white police officers are simply a reflection of the white society, the only difference being they can hide behind the law and their uniform.
Andy Cole, UK

I work with police officers of various ethnic backgrounds who risk their lives every day to protect society. In return for this they can expect to receive verbal/physical abuse, bad press when things go wrong and no press when they save a life, solve a crime etc. A lot of Irish people were stopped by the police when the IRA was bombing London, and with good reason. If criminals fit a certain profile then people matching that profile are more likely to be stopped. It's not racism, it is common sense.
Leonard, England

I appreciate there is a concern here, certainly the figures suggest that the police are at the least guilty of stereotyping at worst of institutional racism. Having said that, I think any changes to the policy would have to be made without reducing the effectiveness of the police force which already has an extremely difficult job to do.
Bob, UK

Like most officers I only use my powers lawfully Jim, UK

I am a police officer in the east end of London. The areas where I patrol consist predominately of peoples of an ethnic background. In some of these areas you only see people of an ethnic background on the streets. Are we to stop patrolling these areas and give in to the vocal minority objecting to searching? Should we give up our stop and search powers? Like most officers I only use my powers lawfully as the prospect of action being taken against me for misusing them is always in the back of my mind, especially before carrying out a search.
Jim, UK

It seems to me that the criminal element can carry weapons, stolen goods or drugs without any fear whatsoever of being caught because the police are unable to do their jobs properly. Those few who do get stopped must by the very nature of things, have drawn attention to themselves, the police do not generally say "here's a black man, let's stop and search him."
Dave, England

These figures show not only that racism is alive and well but also that the police are singularly failing to understand different cultures, especially youth culture. Hanging out on a street corner does not make you a criminal, nor does driving a nice car with hip hop blasting from the stereo. Unfortunately the police still seem to think that these are good determinants of criminal behaviour. Not only that but they associate them with black people.
Alan P, UK

The majority of policemen in this country are not racists Mark, London

It is a shame that more black people are stopped as an overall statistic. There will always be injustices at a personal level with many of these searches and this is regrettable. But the issue remains one of probability, calculated for locality and crime patterns in particular trouble spots. There is too much racism in Britain but the police have made great strides in recent years. Each case should be taken on merit, the majority of policemen in this country are not racists.
Mark, London, UK

This is insane. Do we have to suffer this hand-wringing every time some meaningless number varies between black and white people? What do you want the police to do? Search a white person every time a black person is stopped, just to keep the numbers the same? Sadly, such a policy wouldn't surprise me if it were implemented.
Fraser Speirs, Scotland

I graduated in mathematics, and spent time studying the significance of statistics. Rather than just being told 'more black people are stopped', I would like to know what proportion of these searches yielded no result. If there is a greater proportion of unnecessary searches concerning black people when compared to white, then there may well be a problem. However, just saying 'there are more searches' is not a meaningful statistic - it only generates more anger.
Steve, UK

No. PC rubbish. People make an issue of an unfortunate fact. Most of the black community agree with stop and search.
James Brown, Britain

Racism is not something most white people understand Femi Oladele, UK

As a professional black male who has been stopped a few times (for no reason whatsoever) it's easy for people to dismiss this issue as "PC rubbish". Racism is not something most white people understand, try visiting another country where people treat you differently and then you'll understand how black people feel.
Femi Oladele, UK

Femi Oladele, UK is missing the point I think. I am Irish and openly gay and when I came to work in London, both were distinct problems for some people, which made my life a bit difficult. But despite my accent I have only ever been regularly questioned when re-entering the country. That did not mean that I ever thought of Special Branch as being "institutionally racist" whatever that actually means. The fact was that numbers of my countrymen were committing heinous crimes against the people of England and her institutions. Even I could be a victim of one of their indiscriminate bombs. So why on earth should I object to being questioned if it meant that for every 100 like me they caught and removed from circulation one terrorist? I would, and did, feel all the more safe because of it.
Bill McCann, England

Looking quickly at the report, there do seem to be some disturbing trends. But quoting figures like the high stop and search rate for black people over the whole country is meaningless, since a disproportionate number of black people live in inner cities, where stop and search rates are bound to be higher. Surely we should only compare stop and searches in these areas, not over the whole country.
Phil, Southampton, UK

Several years ago my ex-boss (who is white), called me into his office, which overlooked a busy west London thoroughfare with a bus lane. He had stood looking out of the window for some 15 minutes and he was dumbfounded to observe that every single black/Asian person who drove along the bus lane was stopped by police on duty, and that every single white person was not. His reaction was "I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." I was actually dumbfounded that he could be so na�ve!
C. Francois, UK

Stop and searches are not the problem, they are the symptom Simon, UK

Stop and searches are not the problem, they are the symptom. The problem evolves from prejudice, ignorance and selfishness. All of us are guilty of this. As proven throughout history, the integration of different cultures is incredibly complicated. Perhaps there is no solution? But always remember: Only bad news gets reported. Many, many, many of us get along famously.
Simon, UK

I offer my opinions as a police officer in a major city centre. In our city as in most we have a large amount of street robberies committed. About 95% of the offenders in these robberies are black. Obviously then our stop searches will reflect that fact as we try and discourage potential offenders. So would it not be more accurate to compare the proportion of ethnic minorities serving sentences or being convicted rather than in the general population with the proportion being stop and searched. This would show how 'fair' we are being.
An Officer, UK

Many of our white cousins believe the police P Ashley, England

I believe you will see a dichotomy in the comments, mostly dependent upon race and therefore dependent upon experience. It is obvious that people who are not on the receiving end of this treatment will continue to search for excuses to justify the amazingly disproportionate stop and search figures. As a law-abiding black male I resent the fact that I and my male friends and family have been stopped on occasions too numerous to count. However the police continue to claim that stop and search is intelligence led and many of our white cousins will continue to believe the police.

What I will say from experience is that we live in a society riddled with racism and the fact is the police are drawn from society. How can we expect there to be less bigotry in the police force than in the society from which they are drawn?
P Ashley, England

I spotted some youngsters trying to break into my car in Birmingham a few weeks back, so I reported it to some police officers in a nearby petrol station. The very first thing that one of them asked me was "Can you give me a description? Were they black?" The car thieves were three white males. I found this natural assumption that they were black to be horrifying.
Gary, UK

Stop and search is fundamentally anti-libertarian Mike Donovan, UK

Stop and search is fundamentally anti-libertarian. People going about their business should not be stopped or searched unless there is reasonable suspicion that they have committed a crime.
Mike Donovan, UK

Looking at stop and search in isolation it is difficult to know whether racism is at play. If you look at the Home Office report as a whole you get a clearer picture. People from ethnic minorities are more likely to be stopped and searched, and more likely to be arrested but less likely than white people to be cautioned. They are more likely to be remanded in custody, yet are also more likely to be acquitted and to plead not guilty. They are more likely to be the victims of crime.

If convicted of violent offences, they are more likely to be sent to prison. And yet, they are also more likely to be released early and less likely to re-offend. The overall picture suggests to me that there is racism at work in the system. Yet, oddly enough, people from ethnic minorities are also more likely than white people to be satisfied with the criminal justice system. Go figure.
Richard Johnson, UK

Of course the police are guilty of institutional racism. I was stopped and when I asked for an explanation the two PCs became irate and aggressive. How dare I question them?! I wrote a letter of complaint but got nowhere with it. In general they are thuggish and small-minded. Stop and search may be good but only if they have a good reason to do so. There is scant evidence to suggest this is the case.
Morgan Slade, England

This is not just one uncharacteristic statistic, the same complaints were echoed by Catholics in Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles, particularly at check-points. How and why people are stopped is crucial to stop specific groups feeling harassed but because one group is being stopped more than others does not mean that they are being solely targeted. Surely the first step is to persuade officers to give reasons why they feel a particular person is stopped for each instance.
Michael, UK

The fact of the matter is that more black people are getting stopped because statistically they are more likely to commit the crime - the police have a hard enough job as it is and as far as I am concerned if you haven't done anything wrong you won't mind being stopped, at least it shows the police are doing their jobs.
Anon, UK

More men are stopped than women. Is this sexist? David, UK

Is the policy unfair? Of course not. I think it's about time we unhandcuffed the police to go after those they suspect of crime without the fear of being branded racist. More men are stopped than women. Is this sexist? More young people are stopped than OAPs, is this ageist? Of course it isn't, it's just the police doing things in the way they know will bring the best results. I suggest we allow them to do their job without interference from the PC evangelists!
David, United Kingdom

Me and a friend have identical cars - Golf GTi convertibles. He is black and gets stopped on average once a month. I am white and have never been stopped in over two years. How on earth can the police say that this is not race-related?
Andy Walton, UK

I'm a black guy in my mid-20s living in London and I've never been stopped and searched. Ever! If I did get stopped and searched, I wouldn't put it down to the colour of my skin either.
Julian, UK

There isn't enough evidence to answer this question. If more black people are being stopped and searched, but are being routinely found to be innocent, then yes, this would surely constitute harassment and discrimination. On the other hand, if the majority of black people who are stopped are found to be guilty then this justifies the released statistic and raises a whole new set of questions.
Graham, Scotland

If we are to blame anyone for this, it should be society as a whole Steve, UK

I put it down to human nature more than conscious racism on the part of the police. A disproportionate number of black people commit crime due to their social circumstances and, therefore, they are more likely to be stopped because of it. If we are to blame anyone for this, it should be society as a whole for being racist. Until racism is stamped out in other areas of society, allowing ethnic minorities the opportunity to climb from the position they are stuck in, it will not get any better.
Steve, UK

My stop and search count for this new millennium so far runs at 22 times so on a yearly average I am ahead of Mr Josephs. On nearly all of the occasions the reasons were so vague they bordered on the ridiculous.
Michael Roberts, UK

I wish the police would stop being so racist. Being white, I have a few good black friends and they are the nicest people you can ever meet. They are scared stiff when they walk past a police officer as they have done nothing wrong. I want to know what is the motive of searching innocent black people?
Helen, UK

Does the relative wealth of those stopped affect the results? David Patrick, UK

How does the relative wealth of those stopped affect the results? Poorer people are more likely to be stopped than richer ones and black people are still poorer than the average person. I'm not saying that there isn't racism in the police force as there clearly is still in many areas, but when you compare black and white people from the same earnings range is the ratio still eight to one?
David Patrick, UK

Numbers and percentages mean nothing - individual circumstance, location and evidence mean everything. Unless each individual case has its details published, what good are the numbers to anyone? Are people meaning that the police are turning a blind eye to white people? I doubt that.
Phil, England

I expect that the male to female ratio of who gets stopped and searched is higher, but I don't think that this necessarily shows that the police are guilty of sexism.
Chris Rammer, Reading, England