BLACK people are nearly eight times as likely to be stopped and searched by Hampshire Constabulary than white people in the area, new figures show.

The figures come as human rights organisation Liberty calls on the government to tackle the "appalling injustice" of increased stop and search rates for people of colour.

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 show that of 9,791 searches carried out by Hampshire Constabulary in the year to March, 532 were of black people.

By comparison, there were 7,151 searches of white people.

Meaning a black person was 7.7 times more likely to be stopped in the period from April 2021 to March 2022, a figure calculated against 2021 Census data. 

Hampshire assistant chief constable Paul Bartolomeo said: "I know the fact this data shows a black person is 7.7 times more likely to be stopped than a white person in our force area will be of great concern to people, and I fully understand this. It is a stark number and we are committed to further understanding the reasons for this and to addressing it."

He added: "Policing is complex and challenging, it is also built on the principles of doing so by consent, so increasing the trust and support within our communities is key.

"Being anti-racist, ethical and inclusive is top of our agenda, and we are signed up to the National Police Race Action Plan, which was unveiled earlier this year.

"I would encourage anyone who wants to get further involved in the scrutiny of powers such as stop and search, in particular anyone who has direct experience of being stopped, to contact us by emailing acc.local.policing@hampshire.police.uk."