By Ethan Davies

Black and Asian people are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police in Greater Manchester, a new report says. 

Discussing the latest figures, a police representative told a meeting: "The public is asking us to do it. It starts and ends with community intelligence. People have asked us to do this loud and clear to protect their families and we are doing that respectfully, lawfully, and professionally."

Black people are nearly two-and-a-half more likely to be stopped and searched than white people in the region – 2.4 now compared to 2.1 in 2023. The UK average is 4.1. Bosses in our region highlight the fact the figure has fallen in the last three years.

Asian people are 1.4 times more likely to be stopped and searched. The figures have been published after GMP launched a huge push on the use of stop-and-search across the board, climbing by 73 per cent from 2022 to 2023.

Although data for 2023 to 2024 is not fully available, chiefs believe the practice is becoming increasingly more prevalent, albeit at a slower pace, with the difference in the number of 'stop and search encounters' from April 2023 to the same month this year representing an 18 per cent rise.

What is largely unchanged is the rate of 'positive outcomes' from the 'encounters', with just over one in five (21 per cent) resulting in an arrest; warning; or summons being issued, among other options to deal with suspects.

The data came to light at a Police, Fire, and Crime Panel meeting held by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday (June 11), Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods said: "We do do extensive dip-sampling. There's an expectation and requirement for officers to have body worn video on for stop-search.

"Trafford is shown at the highest [level in Greater Manchester for the likelihood of black people being stopped, at 4.1 times more likely]. The increase and that high figure relates to a proactive operation on the back of tragic murders of young people in knife crime. We have had gang disputes with young men and it's our duty to be out there and stop-searching to prevent any more murder. 

"That accounts for the difference in the figures. It's a defined authorised operation by senior officers. The city of Manchester, as a district, is one of our more major black communities and if you look at the census data and the stop-search data, it's much different. It's 1.4 [times more likely than white people] so still higher, but hopefully it gives an idea that in communities where black people live, the disproportionality is lower.

"If we were proportionate, we would search 50 percent women and a heck of a lot more old people. They do not figure in the figures. Stop-search is not proportionate. It's delivered in certain places to deal with certain issues. I do think we need that debate."

DCC Woods added: "The public is asking us to do it. Stop-search is part of that. It starts and ends with community intelligence. Let's turn the narrative. People have asked us to do this loud and clear to protect their families and we are doing that respectfully, lawfully, and professionally."

The report, prepared by the force, concludes that 'while encouraging to a point, it remains the case that people are more likely to be stop-searched if they come from black or Asian communities'. GMP says 'this data receives significant scrutiny' within the force, and individual 'districts are challenged' for explanations via its 'Disproportionality in Operational Policing Board and the Use of Powers Board', chaired by second-in-command ACC Chris Sykes. That then reports into another board directly overseen by Chief Constable Stephen Watson.

The data is also interrogated by deputy Greater Manchester mayor Kate Green, who also appeared at the meeting. She said: "The message is that despite the significant increase in stop and search volumes over the last two years, we have not seen a significant increase in disproportionality. In fact it's fallen over the last three year period."

A related report for the panel also reveals that, across Greater Manchester, black people are 1.8 times more likely to be arrested than white people, with the figure three times more likely in Trafford. Asian people are less likely to be arrested, at a rate of 0.8. 

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