Sussex Police reveal how many stop and searches they carried out in the past year

The figures were shared by deputy chief constable Dave McLaren during a meeting with Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne.

The 5,679 total searches was a 2 per cent fall on the previous year – around 115 fewer – and resulted in a ‘find rate’ of 37 per cent, which is 7 per cent higher than the national average.

One area which remains a problem for Forces up and down the country is disproportionality.

In Sussex you are 8.8 times more likely to be stopped and searched if you are black.

DCC McLaren said there was ‘a lot of work going on in the background’ to address the issue, adding that Sussex Police was ‘fully committed to understanding exactly why we have that disproportionality and to do everything that’s within our powers to make sure that we reduce or eradicate that’.

One major weapon in the Force’s fight against disproportionality has been assistant chief officer Anita Grant, who is the lead on the Police Race Action Plan for Surrey Police and Sussex Police.

ACO Grant recently won the Public Service category at The Asian Women of Achievement Awards and DCC McLaren was effusive in his praise for her work.

He said: “In just over a year she has made some tremendous progress and really got us going in the right direction in terms of [our Race Action] plan.

“Clearly it’s a long-term plan. But even as the national plan has slightly stalled over the last quarter, we have continued to make progress.”

DCC McLaren said ACO Grant felt Sussex Police was ‘well ahead of the game’ when compared to other Forces.

He added: “We are in a good place and we were recognised recently by a non-profit organisation, Race Equality Matters, as one of two Forces who have been recognised as trail-blazers in this area.

“I feel really confident that we’re making good progress [and] we’re making progress at the right pace.”

As for the stop and search powers, DCC McLaren assured Mrs Bourne that a raft of scrutiny and training procedures were in place to ensure they were used in a fair, lawful and proportionate manner and that no bias or prejudice was shown.

He added: “This is quite an intrusive power that we have and it’s important that we’re using it appropriately.”