Criminal Justice and Minority Groups

A critical assessment of the question to what extent police stop and search powers may impact on trust and confidence in the police service with particular reference to the notion of 'overpolicing'

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Law - Criminal process, Criminology, Law Enforcement, grade: 50 Punkte = 3,00, University of Portsmouth (Institute of Criminal Justice), language: English, abstract: The use of stop and search by the police, according to the definition on the website of the Metropolitan Police London, is an instrument to tackle crime and anti- social behaviour, and to prevent more serious crimes occurring (Metropolitan Police UK, 2009), though for many people being stopped and searched it just seems pure harassment, even racial harassment. This essay shall weigh out the pros and cons of stop and search with particular reference to 'overpolicing' and with regard to racism as a reason for stops and searches. Furthermore, it will analyse the impact of police stop and search powers on the public's trust and confidence in the police service.