Mostly black people stopped and searched in Easton, police say

The majority of people stopped and searched by police during Section 60 powers in an area of Bristol were black, police figures show.

Enhanced stop and search powers were granted for 24 hours in Easton following a serious assault involving knives near Rawnsley Park in the early hours of Sunday 9 June.

Police arrested 11 people on suspicion of attempted murder. All have now been released on conditional bail as enquiries continue.

One of victims remains in hospital recovering, while the second has been discharged to recover at home. Their injuries are no longer believed to be life-threatening or life-changing.

Under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, police were allowed to stop and search people without requiring reasonable grounds for suspicion.

Section 60AA of the same act also allowed the officers to request individuals to remove any face coverings if they believed someone was trying to hide their identity.

In total, 14 people were stopped using the powers during the 24-hour period they were authorised.

All officers who used the powers completed an extended specialist briefing to explain the extent and deliver of the powers to ensure they were used correctly.

Of the searches, no weapons were found, however officers did find cannabis on two of the people searched.

The force said that eight of the individuals searched were of black heritage and six were of Asian heritage.

Almost all were between the ages of 18 and 24 and one was between 10-17 years old.

No one was requested to remove any face coverings using the section 60AA power.

All searches were recorded on body worn video and those who were searched were offered a stop and search receipt.

Chief Inspector for East Bristol and force lead for stop and search, Vicks Hayward-Melen, said: “We understand this tactic is not welcomed by all and that some people feel it is used to over-police certain communities.

"We are mindful of this whenever we make the challenging decision to use these powers, at the same time as weighing up the need to prevent further violence or escalation and reassure the public we are doing all we can to keep communities safe.

“I have and will continue to personally review all the stop and searches carried out under this power via the body worn video.

"We will also be ensuring this will be further scrutinised externally by the Independent Scrutiny of Police Powers Panel as is standard for searches under this power.

“We will analyse the data from this latest use of section 60 to understand its effectiveness in preventing serious violence and any disproportionality.

"We will be transparent and open with what we find and work in partnership with our communities, including our Race Matters Community Network, to find a suitable way forward.”

Section 60 powers were last used in Bristol in February following a series of knife crime incidents in the city centre, south Bristol, and east Bristol.

Talking about the recent incident near Rawnsley Park, Ch Insp Hayward-Melen added: “The recent incidents in Stapleton Road and the surrounding area in the past few months has had a significant impact on the local community.

“We are making sure our Neighbourhood Policing Team for Easton is visible and available for members of the community to approach them with any concerns they may have.

“There is no place for knife crime on our streets or in our communities.

"We are committed as the police to doing everything we possibly can to stop this, from working with our intelligence teams to identify those who are posing the most risk in our communities, conducting knife sweeps, and engaging with our communities to alert them to the dangers.

“We can only act on information we are told, so our plea to the public is to please report if you see or hear of anything that concerns you, you can report online on our website, or by calling 101, or you can report anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.

"Help us tackle this together and prevent more senseless incidents and loss of lives."

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