According to the results of a study, “stop and search” is one of the less effective tactics in the fight against increasing violence, such as knife crime.
Research by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), a Home Office-funded charity dedicated to tackling youth violence, has found that other tactics have led to greater reductions in violence, such as targeted community-based deterrence measures, putting more police on the streets of troubled areas, or grooming and diverting potential suspects.
The charity says its study “raises doubts about the effectiveness of increased use of stop-and-search measures in reducing violent crime.”
Stop and search is one of the most controversial police powers because it is disproportionately used against members of ethnic minorities – particularly young black men – leading to mistrust and trauma.
Some right-wing commentators and politicians are calling for increased stop and searches as the threat of violence such as knife crime increases. Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, has expressed this view several times during the election campaign.
The most effective method of combating violence was found to be targeted deterrence, reducing the number of incidents by 33%, six times more than the stop-and-search method.
Targeted deterrence involves police working with local services – such as health, education and housing – and community organisations to identify perpetrators of violence and then provide them with help from a young age.
In Glasgow, the average age of participants in deterrence initiatives was 16 and the cost was £1,500 per participant. A £7 million targeted deterrence pilot project is currently running in five areas – Coventry, Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester and Wolverhampton – and is funded by the Home Office.
Mentoring and diversion reduced violence by 21%, recidivism by 19% and overall crime by 14%, the study found. The best results were achieved when mentoring was provided by counselors rather than teachers or police officers.
Hotspot policing, in which officers conduct conspicuous patrols, reduced violence by 14% and drug-related crimes by 30%. The YEF study examined global research on each of these anti-violence tactics.
In England and Wales, stop-and-search measures reduced violence by 5 percent, according to the study. In the USA, the reduction was 13 percent.
In 2022 and 2023, police in England and Wales used their stop and search powers more than 500,000 times. Most searches were unsuccessful, 14% resulted in an arrest and 3% found an illegally carried weapon, the study said.
For officers to use their power, there must be reasonable suspicion, and six out of ten searches were carried out because of suspected drug possession.
Black people are four times more likely to be the victims of identity checks than white people, and this tactic is a key part of the racial divide between police and the communities in which they work.
Jon Yates, chief executive of YEF, said: “Stop and search is an essential police power, but simply increasing the number of searches is not a panacea for knife crime. If used poorly, it has little impact on violence and undermines confidence in the police.”
“If we want to reduce knife crime, we need to focus more on the other important roles our police play: such as maintaining a regular presence in high-violence areas, ensuring children arrested with knives get help quickly, and targeting those who are heavily involved in violence. It’s not about being tough or soft on crime, we need to be smart. We need to do what works.”
Rick Muir, director of the Police Foundation think tank, said: “The evidence shows that stop-and-search measures are most effective and least damaging to public confidence when used sparingly, with ‘reasonable reasons’ and based on sound intelligence.”
