Christine Matthews said that she had just stepped down as Chair of Merton Independent Stop and Search Monitoring Group after more than ten years in the role. She is still Chair of the Pan London Group.

Christine Matthews briefly introduced the report as well as providing information on the composition and remit of the monitoring group that holds the police to account for every aspect of the stop and search process. She said that the latest figures, for May 2015, showed that there were 136 searches in Merton and 26 arrests – an arrest rate of 19.9% which compares well to the MOPAC target of 20%.

Members said that the data that had been provided was helpful and noted the low numbers in Merton compared to other boroughs. Christine Matthews said that she had brought this to the attention of the Chief Inspector. Factors such as demographic composition, in particular a high proportion of school age residents, help to explain the data. Christine Matthews said that the data raises questions that require further detail and this is what the monitoring group does – for example, a piece of work carried out some years ago revealed that only 50% of those stopped were borough residents.

In response to questions about whether the police had got the balance right in terms of the number of stop and searches carried out, the Borough Commander said that that is a matter of opinion and a contentious subject. His view is that there are times when it is appropriate for searches to be carried out and that officers should not be shy of doing so. The powers relating to the circumstances under which stop and search can be carried out have been reduced and there has been a sustained “Stop IT” campaign to reduce the numbers.

In response to a question about the ethnic profile of the police compared to the local community, the Borough Commander said that a lot is being done to encourage people from black and ethnic minority communities to join the police but change would take some time.

Christine Matthews said that they also monitor complaints but that the level is low and in her opinion this is because young people in particular find it difficult, or intimidating, to make complaints about the police and that it would be good to find a better mechanism.

In response to questions about working with young people, Christine Matthews said that it had been hard to get young people representatives on the monitoring group. She cited a recent football event that had been a successful way of raising young people’s knowledge of stop and search as well as being a fun activity for them. The Borough Commander added that there had been a lot of engagement through the school police officers too.

RESOLVED: to thank Christine Matthews for all the work and the valuable role she has carried out in holding the police to account  whilst Chair of the Merton Independent Stop and Search Monitoring Group.

The Borough Commander formally added his thanks to Christine Matthews.