Can police training reduce ethnic/racial disparities in stop and search? Evidence from a multisite UK trial

Abstract

This study examines the effects of a 1-day pilot training program on ethnic/racial bias in police use of stop and search powers, using a randomized controlled trial in six diverse agencies in England. We theorized the training could reduce officer bias by improving their competence to apply legitimate criteria in search decisions, and/or by reducing their reliance on ethnic/racial stereotypes. Survey results showed the training improved officers' knowledge of stop and search regulations, made them more selective in declared search intentions in hypothetical scenarios, and reduced their support for ethnic/racial stereotyping in policing. While it showed no effects on the ethnic/racial patterns of search intentions in survey scenarios, there was no survey evidence of bias against black people in the scenarios, even in the absence of training. Police search records revealed no clear training effects on recorded street-level behaviors, whether in relation to the frequency of searches, the strength of grounds for suspicion, or their ethnic/racial patterning. Policy implications: A 1-day police training program to reduce ethnic/racial bias may change officers' knowledge and attitudes but, on its own, may not be sufficient to impact their street-level behaviors. Training is probably most effective as part of a package of reforms, and particularly when it: involves sufficient "dosage";

Economic Inequality and the Spatial Distribution of Stop and Search: Evidence from London

“…The interpretation of S&S powers as a tool of social control is often linked to ethnic disparities, which have been extensively documented by previous research (Shiner et al, 2018;Miller et al, 2020;Vomfell and Stewart, 2021). Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups are more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts-for instance, as of 2017 Black people were stopped and searched more than eight times the rate of White people (Shiner et al, 2018).…”

“…Given the undermining of trust in the police and the modest efficacy of S&S as a crime-control strategy, previous work has suggested that the persistence of governmental reliance on S&S practices is more related to social order maintenance, widely defined, than to crime-fighting, narrowly defined (Bradford and Loader, 2016;Tiratelli et al, 2018). This argument is sustained, for instance, by the well documented literature on ethnic disparities in the United Kingdom (Bowling and Phillips, 2007;Quinton, 2015), as a growing body of research documents that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals are more likely to be stopped and searched by police than White people (Shiner et al, 2018;Miller et al, 2020;Vomfell and Stewart, 2021). By over-policing BAME groups, police behaviour would be restating power relations within society-i.e.…”

Public Influence on the Ethnic Disparity in Stop-and-Search Statistics in Four London Boroughs

“…Miller et al [48] found that officers with deeper implicit biases were more inclined to participate in discriminatory activities such as unfair stop-and-search strategies. They emphasised the possible effect of subconscious preconceptions on dealing with people of different races or ethnicities, as well as the impact of officer qualities and experiences on subconscious prejudices [62].…”

“…It recognises the intricacies inherent in stop-and-search operations and balances public safety and individual freedoms [18,38]. The research showed that for the police to achieve fair and impartial stop-and-search procedures, it is important to involve communities, eliminate hidden biases and encourage communication between the public and the police [22,48,66]. What seemed to be obvious was that it all focused on blaming the stop-and-search statistics on the police but it is the public that calls the police and research shows that proactive policing has been significantly reduced in recent years due to funding cuts [10,19].…”

A call to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems.

“…Further, 58% of officers reported that they subsequently engaged in strategies to try to manage it. Even so, the training had no discernible impact on racial and ethnic disparities in enforcement actions over an approximately 1-year observation period (see also Miller et al, 2020).…”