Page 10 - HOTT Magazine Vol 3 Ed 3

The Scottish Alliance Against Prejudice and Hate Crime, of which Article 12 is a member, is
currently conducting a mapping exercise. Click the following link to complete the survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BJPT5PL

Article 12's response to the report on Stop and Search in Scotland -

Gypsy/Travellers

A recent report by Kath Murray on Police Scotland Stop and Search appeared to highlight

high numbers of Gypsy/Travellers being stopped. This was reported by a number of media
publications as fact. What most didn't include in their reporting were the caveats of the

author such as those below or the actual numbers stopped. We, and others, have checked

with Police Scotland and out of just under 48,000 Stops last year 109 were Gypsy/Travellers

- that equates to 0.23% of the total Stops. Why the 109 were stopped is another point for
discussion but if we are to challenge that it is important that we do so with the *facts*.

"Data from other jurisdictions suggest that people from minority ethnic groups tend to be

more likely to be searched than white people; however, this has not historically been an

issue in Scotland... The number of searches and, especially, seizures for minority ethnic

groups are very small AND the population statistics for non‐white populations in Scotland is
far less reliable than it is for age/sex, which means that there could be a much greater

degree of error around these figures".

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