NCJ Number
207437
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 44 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 677-694
Editor(s)
Geoffrey Pearson
Date Published
September 2004
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This British study assessed the differential use of strip searches and the treatment of suspects in custody with a specific focus on race.
Abstract
Recently, police use of stop and search has emerged as a key area of concern in Britain with the disproportionate application of such power against young Black men. In addition, concerns about police treatment of suspects whether inside or outside a police station, have been long-standing with particular attention paid to the nature of the relationship between the police and minority ethnic communities. However, the strip searching of suspects has been a largely unexamined police power. This study assessed the differential use of strip search with particular focus on race. The study was based on data collected from a police station in North London during a study of the role and impact of closed circuit television (CCTV) in police custody. The study time period was from May 1999 to September 2000. The study indicated that even when other factors were controlled for, there was striking disproportion in the use of strip-search powers against African-Caribbean arrestees in the police station. The study suggests that there are policing practices and powers beyond stop and search that may be equally, if not more, revealing of the ways in which policing is unequally experienced. Tables, figures and references