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Police Discrimination Case Study

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Black 21% 23% 22% 18% 12%
Asian 45% 35% 31% 35% 35%
Other 21% 23% 22% 22% 27%
Mixed/not stated 5% 11% 16% 14% 15%
While it remains essential that
The police should exercise their powers under Schedule 7 in a sensitive, well-informed and unbiased manner, these statistics do not constitute evidence that those powers were being used in a racially discriminatory manner. An emphatic dissenting note was sounded by Lord Kerr, who noted that discrimination may be on racial grounds even if it is not the sole ground for the decision. He considered that by authorising the use of a coercive power even partly on the grounds of race and religion, Schedule 7 “not only permits direct discrimination, it is entirely at odds with the notion of an enlightened …show more content…

Unusually, the arresting officer need have no specific offence in mind: it is enough, by section 40, for there to be a reasonable suspicion that a person is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. A maximum period of pre-charge detention, in excess of the 96 hours allowed under PACE, applies in relation to persons arrested under section 41. Having fluctuated between 7 and 28 days over the currency of the Act, the maximum period (which is only rarely approached in practice) has stood at 14 days since January 2011 . Detention must be reviewed at 12-hour intervals during the first 48 hours; beyond that time, warrants for further detention must be obtained from court. Police bail is not available. The treatment of detainees is governed by special rules contained in Part I of TA2000 Schedule 8 and (save in Scotland) by PACE Code H. There are wider powers to take and retain identification data and …show more content…

A more eye-catching figure, often quoted by Ministers, is for “terrorism-related arrests”. 289 of these were recorded in 2014 (as against 223 in 2013, 258 in 2012, 170 in 2011 and an average of 216 since September 2001).122 As I have previously noted, caution is required in relation to these figures. But in 2014, 86% of those charged following “terrorism-related arrests” were charged with offences considered to be linked to terrorism, a substantial increase over the equivalent figure of 56% in 2013. They were focused on the last quarter of the year, which saw 46% of the arrests under TA 2000 section 41 and 37% of all the terrorism-related arrests. There was a large increase in the number of 18-20 year olds being arrested, which more than tripled from 15 in 2013 to 46 in 2014. Continuing a recent trend, the great majority (78%) of “terrorism-related arrests” were under PACE rather than TA 2000 section 41. This contrasts with the period 2003-2007, in which over 90% of such arrests were under TA 2000. Two possible explanations are increased use of holding charges (identity offences, benefits fraud, internet-related offences) while terrorist offences are investigated, and the advent of certain precursor offences under TA 2006 in respect of which the TA 2000 section 41 arrest power (which is limited to the categories of person specified in section 40) may not be

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