Stop and search review 'important for public confidence'

The fact that just 9% of stop-and-searches lead to an arrest clearly demonstrates that the current system is not working.

Under the last Government, stop-and-search spiralled out of control, with hundreds of thousands of innocent people stopped and searched without any good reason.

If public confidence in the police is to be maintained, these sort of powers must be used in a far more targeted way and the pilot schemes already undertaken demonstrate this is possible without jeopardising public safety.

Today's statement is an important step towards ensuring the public, particularly people from ethnic minorities, can have confidence that they can walk the streets without fearing they will be subject to further unjustified use of stop-and-search powers.