'Wrong people' searched by police

by Karlene Pinnock
Newsbeat reporter

Is this the best way to get levels of knife crime down?

The police are carrying out more stop and searches in areas with a high level of knife crime.

But more than two thirds of teenagers asked about this by Newsbeat say they're targeting the wrong people.

Fifteen per cent said it's the best way to fight knife crime though.

Between June 2008 and March this year, nearly 200,000 stop and searches were carried out in 10 areas where there had been a rise in violent deaths.

More than 3,500 knives were recovered.

Newsbeat carried out a special poll of five hundred teenagers in those 10 hotspot areas. More than half said stop and search does work, but many felt the wrong people are targeted.

Chief inspector Dave Mann from London's Metropolitan Police - the city has the highest number of stop and searches in the UK. He believes stop and search is a good way of reducing crime:

Black people do get stopped more than white people... Curtis, 21, from Coventry

"Our stop and search is information-led and we've recovered hundreds of weapons," he said. "Any one of those weapons could have been the next murder. They're definitely better off in our hands and off the street rather than out there."

Informer

But not everyone's happy. 22 year old E is from Birmingham

"I get stopped and searched daily. They're just doing it to make me look like an informer, or just to waste my time or embarrass me."

From 2007 to 2008, black people were nearly 8 times more likely to be stopped and searched and Asian people, more than twice as likely.

21 year old Curtis from Coventry says: "Being a white person, black people do get stopped more than white people."

Stuart Hyde is from West Midlands Police said: "We obviously monitor race. For example if you've got an officer that's only stopping Bangladeshi people or black people or white people then we can easily monitor that.

"If anyone feels aggrieved then they've got the right to walk into any police station and we will investigate it".