Black people 'feel victimised'

Scotland Yard faced renewed criticism over stop and search tactics today after a new report found black people were more likely to feel victimised.

The independent Police Complaints Authority found black people lodged four out of 10 complaints about stop and search, though they make up one in 50 of the population.

It also found such complaints were more likely to arise from incidents in London.

PCA chairman Sir Alastair Graham said: "Black people are much more likely to complain about stop and search than they are about other aspects of policing.

"Police need to have a far better understanding of what they get out of it in terms of arrest and detention-of suspects against the costs in terms of community disaffection."

One complainant was an off-duty black police officer who drove into a car park during a police operation to arrest two potentially armed black suspects. Police in the operation arrested him because they associated him with the suspects.

Scotland Yard said it was carrying out detailed research and more training to improve stop and search procedures.

Commander Bob Broadhurst added: "These figures are four years old. We carry out a quarter of a million stops in London each year and only 0.01 per cent of people complain."