Black community ‘used’ by police tactics as figures show disproportionate use of force

The black community has been “used” by Merseyside Police, which has a “significant problem with race”, according to campaigners, after new data highlighted the force’s use of the tactic.

As part of the ongoing scrutiny of the approaches used by officers, figures on how he uses operations including stop and search, force and tasers were the focus of a hearing by Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell. In session earlier this month, the force presented data showing performance over the last financial year.

At its peak, 5,623 people were subject to stop and search across Merseyside. This was achieved in March last year.

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However, among those stopped by officers, members of the public who identify as black felt almost twice as likely to be searched on average. When the use of force was taken into account, those who identified as Caribbean, African, any other black background or white or black Caribbean were again disproportionately the subject of force by officers between April 2023 and March of this year.

In the past 12 months, Tasers have been fired a total of 49 times in the region – involving four black and ethnic minority people. Despite the chief constable claiming “any disproportionality is too great” and almost two-and-a-half years since the police and crime commissioner declared the force “institutionally racist” – does Merseyside Police have a race problem?

Chantelle Lunt is a new Knowsley councilor and former police officer. She founded the Merseyside Alliance for Racial Equality CIC (MARE), a not-for-profit organization committed to promoting racial equality in Merseyside through grassroots community-led education and engagement.

She said it was time to do more by the force to protect black communities. She said: “Merseyside Police still has a lot of work to do.

“Emily Spurrell has come out and said the force is institutionally racist. The black community is more likely to experience the use of force by the police, and we let that happen.

“We deal with this every day and we have made no apologies. Serena Kennedy has rightly apologized to the LGBT community, but many people have asked, well, where is ours?

“You don’t have to wait until Black History Month to do it.”

Ms Lunt highlighted the work being done by West Midlands and Avon and Somerset police to right historical wrongs. She said, “I’ve been in too many meetings as a civil rights leader and said we can’t work with you. Other forces have apologized.

“What meaningful action will result from this? Although black people are more likely to be harmed by the police, they can start with an admission of institutional racism and a meaningful apology.”
According to the police’s own figures, current stop and frisk figures equate to 1,225 black people being searched, 2.4% of a total of 50,578 people stopped and searched in Merseyside.

Deputy Chief Constable Jenny Wilson said: “While we understand the concerns of our Merseyside communities and recognize there is more to do, this compares to a national average of 4.1 times more likely. We are working incredibly hard to further improve this figure and mitigate these concerns and have shown improvement with small reductions over the last five years, from 2.8 in 2018/19.

“We continue to put considerable effort into ensuring we use our powers proportionately and subject ourselves to public scrutiny, led by the independent advisory group, to get feedback to help shape our practice.”

ACC Wilson added that the power was not used “lightly” but where officers believe people are involved in crime they “have and will continue to stop them to ask appropriate questions and capture evidence that would could prove vital”.

Jimi Jagne, who was 17 when the Toxteth riots broke out in 1981, disagreed and said the force had not tried “anything considered progressive enough to actually encourage black people living in Liverpool 8, or anywhere else in the city, to work. together to develop a more positive relationship with us.”

He said: “Engaging in various community exercises, the police have always been keen, for decades, to promote the idea that they are essentially anti-racist and have probably convinced many in other parts of the city that they have were prepared to expand in the progress of relations with the black community. Too many blacks and whites living in L8 have instead become convinced of the opposite: that the police have only ever gone so far as to be concerned with nothing more substantial than tidying up the long and sour history of poor relations between They. We too.”

ACC Wilson said she and colleagues from Merseyside Police recognized that the use of force was more likely to be experienced by those in the black community. She added: “As with our use of search stops, the use of force is carefully monitored and any evidence of its disproportionate use with any demographic is explored and we are working hard to address this.”

Despite this, Jimi added that current police efforts to engage with black people, particularly in L8, “have been nothing more than illusions that have not materialized as genuine encouragement” and have left young black men “terrified” that they might. get picked up. He said: “Racial profiling and disproportionate levels of stop and search incidents are very real and apparently here to stay.”

The long-term campaigner said that despite Ms Spurrell’s intervention on racism in May 2022, “Merseyside Police has a significant problem with race in our city”.

Responding to the figures, the Police and Crime Commissioner said: “Police powers such as stop and search and the taser are important tools used by the police to prevent crime and protect communities. However, it is essential that these powers are used in a proportionate and professional manner and any disproportionality must be removed.

“I am relieved to see that the rate of disproportionality has reduced in recent years and I welcome the Chief Constable’s commitment, in the Policing Race Action Plan, to reduce these figures further. I will continue to closely scrutinize the use of force by Merseyside Police to ensure that it is used in an appropriate and proportionate manner and I will use my position as Police and Crime Commissioner to ensure that Merseyside Police provides an effective service to the public and efficient, maintaining the high standards we all expect.”

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