It was revealed in an article published on CNS on Wed (20) following an FOI request by the media house that “Under section 41 of the police law, officers from the RCIPS have considerable powers to stop and search members of the public if they randomly decide a person may be carrying drugs, weapons or stolen goods, among other issues” – see: http://www.caymannewsservice.com/crime/2014/08/20/drugs-dominate-stop-search

The article further states, “The FOI revealed that in 2013 officers from the various units of the RCIPS made 175 stop and searches as defined under section 41 of the law. Of those, 144 were based on drug suspicions, 14 were based on intelligence, eight merely because the people were considered suspicious, four on the basis of prohibited articles, three on suspicion of carrying stolen goods and just two as a result of suspicion over possession of firearms. Police confirmed, however, that just three percent of those people stopped were arrested, calling into question the use of the policy.”

The figures in the UK are much better for stop and search. In an article published by the BBC on April 30 2014 under the title “Police stop and search powers to be overhauled” the % is stated as being “about 10% of more than a million searches” leading to an arrest with the added “black people six times more likely to be stopped than those who are white.”

The British Home Secretary Theresa May said the UK law will be overhauled with a revised code of conduct.

May said when misused, stop and search was an “enormous waste of police time” and “hugely damaging to the relationship between the police and the public”.

She referred to a recent inquiry by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), which found that more than half of all forces in England and Wales were ignoring some rules on stop and search.

“It is very clear that in a large number of cases the reasonable grounds for suspicion were not there and one can only therefore assume, given that black people are six times more likely to be stopped and searched than a white person, that it is precisely the fact that they are a black person that has led to that stop and search taking place.

“It is absolutely disgraceful and sadly… this is a feeling that has come through to young people in black and minority ethnic communities that this is what happens and that this is, if you like, a way of life.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission produced a 110 page review of the stop and search powers in England and Wales under the title “Stop and think”. It can be downloaded at: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/documents/raceinbritain/ehrc_stop_and_search_report.pdf.

Whilst acknowledging the police need every “weapon” in their arsenal to assist them in their tackling the current rise of theft the UK recognise, even with a rate of 10% stop and search leading to an arrest, it is nowhere near good enough. It is not working and is causing much bad feeling with the public’s perception of the police.

Obviously here in Cayman with only a 3% success rate, and an arrest does not mean a charge and successful prosecution will follow, we need to seriously look at our own stop and search policy.

The gap is already widening between the public and police co-operation and “stop and search” is hardly helping.

I urge our legislators to take a serious look at the current law.