REPORT No. 6 /2015 Stop and search in Scotland: A post-reform update Stop and search in Scotland: A post reform overview Scrutiny and accountability Kath Murray University of Edinburgh June 2015 Copyright © Kath Murray 2015 REPORT No. 6 /2015 Stop and search in Scotland: A post-reform update Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 4 Structure of Scottish policing .......................................................................................................... 5 Data quality and limitations ........................................................................................................... 6 KEY FINDINGS ......................................................................................................................................... 7 PART 1. STOP AND SEARCH: KEY SCOTTISH TRENDS ............................................................................... 9 1.1 Ten year overview: 2005-6 to 2014-15 ...................................................................................... 9 1.2 Post-reform: the national perspective ..................................................................................... 10 1.3 Post-reform: the local perspective ........................................................................................... 11 1.4 National and local summary ................................................................................................... 14 1.5 Post-reform: the comparative perspective............................................................................... 15 PART 2. WHY ARE STOP AND SEARCH RATES IN SCOTLAND SO HIGH? .................................................. 17 2.1 Performance management ..................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Under-regulation .................................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Scrutiny and accountability ..................................................................................................... 18 PART 3. NON-STATUTORY STOP AND SEARCH ...................................................................................... 19 3.1 Informed consent ................................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Legality .................................................................................................................................. 20 3.3 Post-reform: non-statutory stop and search trends ................................................................. 21 3.4 ‘London style’ policing ............................................................................................................ 24 PART 4. POLICING YOUNG PEOPLE ....................................................................................................... 24 4.1 Age-distribution of stop and search: pre and post-reform ........................................................ 24 4.2 Policing young people: geographical variation ........................................................................ 26 4.3 Non-statutory stop and search and young people ................................................................... 27 4.4 Policing young people: summary............................................................................................. 29 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 29 References ................................................................................................................................... 31 www.sccjr.ac.uk 2 REPORT No. 6 /2015 Stop and search in Scotland: A post-reform update List of Figures Figure 1. Stop and search in Scotland, per 1,000 people, 2005/6 to 2014/15 ............................................ 9 Figure 2. Number of recorded stop searches: April 2013 to February 2015.............................................. 10 Figure 3. Number of recorded stop searches, West region, April 2013 to March 2015 ............................. 10 Figure 4. Number of recorded stop searches, East & North region, April 2013 to March 2015 ................. 11 Figure 5. Indexed stop and search by Division (West region) April 2014 to February 2015 ....................... 13 Figure 6. Indexed stop and search by Division (East region) April 2014 to February 2015 ........................ 13 Figure 7. Indexed stop and search by Division (North region) April 2014 to February 2015 ...................... 13 Figure 8. Number of statutory and non-statutory searches, April 2013 to February 2015 ........................ 21 Figure 9. Number of non-statutory searches, West region, April 2013 to February 2015 ......................... 22 Figure 10. Number of non-statutory searches, East & North region, April 2013 to February 2015 ........... 22 Figure 11. Proportional use of non-statutory stop and search per Division, 2013/14, 2014/15 ................ 23 Figure 12. Number of stop searches by age; detection by age (%) 2010 (Legacy forces) .......................... 25 Figure 13. Number of stop searches by age; detection by age (%) 2013/14 ............................................. 25 Figure 14. Number of stop searches by age; detection by age (%) 2014/15 ............................................. 25 Figure 15. Age-spread (%) of stop and search, West region, 2014/15 ..................................................... 26 Figure 16. Age-spread (%) of stop and search, East region, 2014/15 ....................................................... 26 Figure 17. Age-spread (%) of stop and search, North region, 2014/15 .................................................... 26 List of Tables Table 1. Stop and search in Scotland, by Division 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/5 ......................................... 12 Table 2. Stop and search per 1,000 population, Scottish Divisions (2014/15), England/Wales forces (2013/14) .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Table 3. Geographical distribution of non-statutory searches across Scotland, by Division 2013/4, 2014/15 ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 Table 4. Proportion of non-statutory searches; search rate per 1,000, by age-group, 2014/15 ................ 28 Table 5. Proportion of non-statutory searches; search rate per 1,000 12- 17 year olds, 2014/15 ............. 28 Copyright Notice Kath Murray has asserted her right under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. Permission is granted to reproduce any part or all of this report for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring or lending is prohibited. Copyright © Kath Murray 2015 www.sccjr.ac.uk 3 REPORT No. 6 /2015 Stop and search in Scotland: A post-reform update Executive Summary This report examines police stop and search practice in the first two years of Police Scotland, following the amalgamation of the eight Scottish forces under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 in April 2013. The report follows on from an earlier evaluation of stop and search published by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research which examined police practice between 2005 and 2010 (Murray, 2014). This found that by 2010, search rates in Scotland were around four times higher than in England and Wales; that seventy per cent of recorded searches were undertaken without reasonable suspicion; and that searches were disproportionately targeted towards young people in some parts of Scotland. Since its publication, the use of stop and search in Scotland has been subject to an unprecedented degree of media and political attention. Yet despite this spotlight, relatively little is known about police practice in the post-reform period. A Scrutiny Review report by the Scottish Police Authority published in May 2014 provided a snapshot of police practice in the first nine months of Police Scotland. Further cross- sectional data were provided in a review by HM Inspectorate of Policing in Scotland (HMICS, 2015b), and some statistics have been published in the media. Nonetheless, the story seems confused. On the one hand, Police Scotland Executives have pointed to a fall in searches in the post-reform period (e.g. Herald 9/4/15). On the other hand, officers have expressed concerns in relation to a disproportionate focus on stop and search, and pressure to increase the numbers of searches (HMICS, 2015a; 32, 2015b; 54). One of the objectives in this report is to untangle these different interpretations. The report examines police practice from three perspectives: national; local and comparative. At the national level, the trends seem encouraging. In the first two years of Police Scotland, the overall number of recorded searches fell by 38%. The number and proportion of non-statutory searches has fallen, and the overall trend in relation to young people is positive. In 2014/15, the number of recorded searches on sixteen year olds fell by 39% from the previous year. At the local level, the picture is mixed. The overall fall in searches was underpinned by the five ex-Strathclyde Divisions. These Divisions accounted for 83% and 81% of all recorded