London - The use of stop and search powers by police officers in London has decreased, but crime has increased, since the publication of the Macpherson report earlier this year, according to a study commissioned by the Metropolitan Police, writes Rachel Donnelly. The Macpherson report criticised the police inquiry into the murder of the black teenager, Stephen Lawrence.
The study linked the decline in the use of stop and search powers, which had fallen by 3 per cent to 9 per cent of all arrests since March, with a rise in the level of crime. But it warned the figures disguised the fact that the "underlying" problems with the powers were more general. The reduction in using stop and search, the study said, seems to stem from a mixture of insecurity, low morale and cynicism among officers since the force was described as institutionally racist in the Macpherson report.