The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) have discovered that the rate of searches carried out by Police Scotland, per 10,000 people is nearly nine times higher than that carried out in in the New York Police Department (NYPD)
However, despite this comparison being discovered prior to the draft report by the SPA being released, the figures never made it into the final report.
The SPA, was created to scrutinize Police Scotland, and began a review of the stop and search policy last year. The results were published in a report in May.
The draft report included a table which compared the rates of stop and search searches carried out in the areas covered by Police Scotland, the Metropolitan Police in London and the NYPD.
The figures were based on the total number of searches carried out per 10,000 people between April and December 2013. The figure for the NYPD was 110.6. Compared to that of Police Scotland which was 979.6. This makes the Police Scotland Figure nearly nine times higher.
The table also showed that the rate of stop and search, was almost three times greater for Police Scotland than the Metropolitan Police in London . The final report however, omitted the figures for Police Scotland's non-statutory searches, giving the appearance that its figures were in line with the Met.
The final report, stated:
"The rate of statutory search in Scotland per 10,000 people is broadly similar to the stop and search rate per 10,000 people in the Metropolitan Police."
Leaving out the NYPD statistics altogether.
Copies of the draft report circulated the Scottish Government and Police Scotland for comment.
The role of the SPA is to hold both Police Scotland and its chief constable to account. The burying of the alarming statistics have raised concerns about the SPA's performance of their duty and I about their impartiality, as they are a government funded body.
Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman, Alison Mc Innes said:
"We have learned that Police Scotland stopped and searched three times as many people as the Metropolitan Police last year, including thousands of children. Now it appears that unfavourable international comparisons and other damaging statistics have been buried. This is shocking."
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