Stop and search ‘not being used with the care and precision it needs to be’, says IOPC report author

The police watchdog has warned that people from minority ethnic backgrounds need protection from unfair stop and searches by police, saying some officers have been carrying them out based on “stereotypes and racial bias”.

In its hard-hitting report – the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has made 18 recommendations for police in England and Wales to overhaul the way they use the powers.

We spoke to Sal Naseem from IOPC, who wrote the report, and began by asking him why there are such huge racial disparities when it comes to stop and search.