The Future of Stop and Search: Reforming police tactics, rebuilding community relations, and the Met’s new Stop and Search Charter

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According to recent government analysis of stop and search, external black people are more than four times likely to be stopped and searched by police. In 2023, the independent Casey review severely criticised the Metropolitan Police for “over policing and under protecting” black Londoners, insisting that there should be a “fundamental reset” of the tactic. The Met Police, meanwhile, argue that the tactic has been effective in fighting crime, with about 17,500 weapons seized over the past four years as a result, including at least 3,500 in 2024. There were 535,307 stop and searches in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024, a decrease of 11,693 compared with the year ending March 2023. Of the 535,307 searches, 75,953 led to an arrest. A quarter of all stop and searches in England and Wales were carried out by the Met. Merseyside Police had the highest stop and search rate (34.6 for every 1,000 people).

In February 2025, the Met Police launch a new Stop and Search Charter that lays out a set of commitments on how the tactic of stop and search should be used. New Scotland Yard says the charter has been put together after 18 months of engagement with over 8,500 Londoners of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds through a series of surveys and events held in each of London’s 32 boroughs. It includes commitments around the communication and tone that officers use when carrying out stop and search, improved training and supervision, and better handling of complaints. Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the charter was not about doing less stop and search, but about “doing it better by improving the quality of encounters, informed by the views of the public it is intended to protect”. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, who leads the project, said stop and search was “extremely important in saving lives, but when done poorly, it has the ability to burn through trust like nothing we know, so it’s critical we reset our relationship”.

The UK Government, meanwhile, has pledged to “to take back our streets,” aiming to halve serious violence, knife crime, and violence against women and girls, and “rebuild public confidence in policing by getting police back on the beat.” To this end, the government has committed, inter alia, to invest in neighbourhood policing; introduce tougher new penalties for anti-social behaviour offenders; enact measures to end the sale of the most dangerous knives; establish specialist rape units in every police force; and create a new network of Young Futures hubs.

Paul Leslie, Chief Executive of the charity Rights and Equalities in Newham argues that not only has stop and search been “targeted negatively at black and Asian boys in particular, but black and Asian communities overall,” but also that “the outcomes of stop and search have not been proven in terms of crime reduction, so there needs to be a better correlation between those two things.” Assessing the prospects of improvement under the Met’s new charter, Mr Leslie added that: “I think it’s a tall order, we are dealing with a range of cultural and embedded behaviours that I think will take some time to unpick, but my starting point is one of optimism.” Doreen Sinclair-McCollin, Chief Executive of Elevated Minds, which works with young people, said she was confident the Met’s new charter genuinely reflects the charity’s views, stating: “A lot of the words come directly from the young people. I’ve not seen that before, where they sat, listened, talked.” She added, however, that she wanted the use of the tactic to be “positive” and “done fairly”.

This symposium will give policy makers, local authorities, police forces, charities and other interest groups the opportunity to learn about the challenges associated with stop and search, analyse the UK government’s plans for tackling crime and the Met’s new plans for reforming stop and search, examine police best practice, and exchange views on how to build trust with communities, tackle discrimination, and improve police effectiveness.

Programme

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