§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, and if so by what means, racial profiling is forbidden in the police service in the exercise of powers of arrest, stop and search and other law enforcement action. [HL3417]
110WA
§ Lord RookerThe Government are opposed to "racial profiling", which can generally be described as the practice of police and other law enforcement officers relying on race, colour or ethnic origin as the basis for subjecting persons to investigatory activities or for determining whether an individual is engaged in criminal activity.
The Code of Practice (A) under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which relates to stop and search, makes clear that a person's race, age or appearance cannot be used alone as a reason for searching that person. It also makes clear that reasonable suspicion cannot be based on generalisations or stereotypical images of certain groups or categories of people as more likely to be involved in criminal activity.
In addition, a police force in performing its public functions, including its enforcement functions, would need to be mindful of its obligations under the Race Relations Act 1976. These would include obligations resulting from the amendments made to the Race Relations Act 1976 by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.