Stop and Search conference at King’s

The King's College London School of Law and The Open Society Justice Initiative, hosted a conference yesterday 'Where Now for Stop and Search?' to discuss one of the most controversial police powers. The conference, held at the Strand Campus, brought together leading academics, lawyers, senior police officers and civil liberties groups to discuss ways of achieving a rational and effective use of stop and search powers without infringing people's rights or damaging community relations. Ben Bowling, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, School of Law, said, 'The practice of stop and search is one of the most controversial powers used by police. If it is used unfairly it can cause enormous damage to community confidence in the police without making society any safer.' 'The European Court of Human Rights' January 2010 judgement on section 44 counter terrorism stop and search powers, has refocused this important debate and will impact on other powers such as section 60 and schedule 7 stop and searches. The use of these powers is increasing in number and having a disproportionate impact on young black and Asian people who find themselves repeatedly stopped and searched. The recent Home Affairs Select Committee report on progress since the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry noted that minority ethnic people remain over-policed and under-protected within our criminal justice system, as evidenced by the persistent disproportionality in the stop and search figures.' The conference was chaired by Lord Victor Adebowale CBE, former chair of the Home Office's Stop and Search Community panel.