The Student Room Group

White people more likely to be carrying drugs when stopped and searched

White people are more likely to be found carrying drugs when stopped and searched, new research indicates.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary finds black people are eight times more likely to be searched, even though drugs are less likely to be found.

Read the full story here

What do you make of this? Are you surprised? Should the police change their approach to stop and search?

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Old. News.
I don't think this is particularly surprising in the sense of the bias being well published already. They definitely need to change how they proceed with stop and searches though, as the current system is a bit ridiculous.
I've never actually seen anyone be stopped and searched in the street, is it more a London thing??
I thought we all knew this.
search me

:dontknow:
Black people still comit more crime,this justifies the stoping and searching.
Most white people I knew in college claimed to be a stoner or ket-head. The police would have had a field trip stop and searching around there.
A clear case of conflation of two unrelated statistics. Are people stopped and searched with the sole intention of finding illegal drugs? I don't think so. Why is the drug find statistic being used to criticise the rate of searches of black people?

Maybe the searches of black people are primarily unrelated to drugs, and guns, knives, stolen goods or evidence of other crimes are being sought. We are not told. One thing is for certain, the preponderance of black people in gaols is not being fed by searches that don't reveal evidence of wrongdoing.
Original post by SCIENCE :D
I've never actually seen anyone be stopped and searched in the street, is it more a London thing??


I’ve lived in London for practically my whole life and never seen it either.

As for the OP I don’t think this is particularly surprising. Clearly the searches on white people are more targeted than ‘young black male wearing dark clothes in a poor area’
Well it matches with the rates of self reported use. :dontknow:



Do lower class white people use more drugs than higher class white people?
(edited 6 years ago)
TSR CT is back to what it does best: inciting the inevitable race war that will lay waste to civilisation as we know it.
(edited 6 years ago)
Just your questioning of the results, it's what we would expect to see from the self reported rates of use.



I'm sure they're more likely to carry drugs on the street and seek out cheaper harder hits but i'm not convinced they're any more likely to commit drugs offenses.
Ludicrious, as a police officer (and any police officer will state exactly the same), we search persons based on reasonable suspicion. Not on skin colour. I police a predominately white area; therefore, most of my stop searches are on white persons.

It's laughable that people think the police drive around, see a black person and think: "Oh, we better search him because he's black." Searches are conducted for a vast variety of reasons; of which, skin colour definitely isn't one.
Reply 14
The fact there are far more whites than blacks/asians/etc. might have something to do with it...
That whites are more likely to be caught in possession if searched.



Yeah, possibly a little off topic, was just picking up on your lower class whites comment.



Quite, stop-and-search is an awful way to deal with drug use.
Reply 16
Original post by oneocean
Ludicrious, as a police officer (and any police officer will state exactly the same), we search persons based on reasonable suspicion. Not on skin colour. I police a predominately white area; therefore, most of my stop searches are on white persons.

It's laughable that people think the police drive around, see a black person and think: "Oh, we better search him because he's black." Searches are conducted for a vast variety of reasons; of which, skin colour definitely isn't one.


Nice that you are sticking to the party line. It is a well known fact that the Police force has had and continues to have race relation problems. To deny that is a spurious lie.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjTpPmMkofYAhWRC-wKHX_sA-sQFghBMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.civilrightsmovement.co.uk%2Ffacts-racial-profiling.html&usg=AOvVaw0VHRjakZgoGGCCjA8-gwEW
Original post by Napp
Nice that you are sticking to the party line. It is a well known fact that the Police force has had and continues to have race relation problems. To deny that is a spurious lie.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjTpPmMkofYAhWRC-wKHX_sA-sQFghBMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.civilrightsmovement.co.uk%2Ffacts-racial-profiling.html&usg=AOvVaw0VHRjakZgoGGCCjA8-gwEW


I do my job to the best of my ability and according to the law, as do my colleagues. I can categorically state that race has never once been a factor in any of the incidents I have dealt with or have witnessed. Say what you like; you have never walked in an officer's shoes. Perhaps look at going on a ride along or joining as a special in a challenging area.
Reply 18
Original post by oneocean
I do my job to the best of my ability and according to the law, as do my colleagues. I can categorically state that race has never once been a factor in any of the incidents I have dealt with or have witnessed. Say what you like; you have never walked in an officer's shoes. Perhaps look at going on a ride along or joining as a special in a challenging area.


I never said YOU I was merely stating that your assertion that racial profiling is categorically not done in the Police is at best mistaken and at worst a lie.
Indeed I havent and alas I would really rather not, Police hardly have the best reputation i'm afraid.
Original post by oneocean
I do my job to the best of my ability and according to the law, as do my colleagues. I can categorically state that race has never once been a factor in any of the incidents I have dealt with or have witnessed. Say what you like; you have never walked in an officer's shoes. Perhaps look at going on a ride along or joining as a special in a challenging area.


Home Office stats show that reasonable suspicion has been continually abused. Unfortunately, coppers aren't the brightest and don't fully appreciate the aspects of the legal test. And why should they; for the same reason we have simplified insurance law for consumers, we have simplified law for coppers. Which they still don't appreciate.

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