BLACK people are almost five times as likely to be stopped and searched by South Yorkshire Police than white people, new figures have revealed.
Stop and search is a controversial practice, in which police temporarily stop individuals they suspect may be carrying weapons, drugs or other contraband.
While there are rules that govern how searches are carried out, several organisations have said they want the practice banned or heavily rolled back, in part because it is used far more often on people of colour, particularly black and black British communities.
The latest Home Office figures shows that of 12,854 searches carried out by South Yorkshire Police in the year to March, 814 were of black people - equivalent to 31.6 for every 1,000 black people in the area, according to the latest population data.
In comparison, there were 8,594 searches of white people - or 7.1 for every 1,000 people - meaning that black people were four-and-a-half times as likely to be stopped.
