8:50pm Tuesday 16th March 2010
A report has criticised the high proportion of police stop and search operations carried out on members of London's black and Asian communities.
The latest figures for Waltham Forest show black people are four times - and Asian people 2.5 times - more likely to be stopped and searched than white people in the borough.
The figures, from 2008/2009 were released today as part of the Stop and Think report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Police forces across the country with "disproportionate and discriminatory" use of stop and search were warned they may face legal action from the commission for breaching the Race Relations Act.
The Metropolitan Police had the highest number of "excessive" stop and searches in the country.
Waltham Forest had the third highest disproportionality ratio in London for searches among the Asian community, with an average of 2.5 Asian people being stopped for each white person.
It was also the fifth-worst borough in London for the number of excessive stop and searches among the Asian population, with 1,434.
Figures for the black population showed, although there was a disproportionality ratio of four, the figure was among the lowest in London, with the borough in 15th place.
The borough was in 16th place for excecssive stop and searches among the black population, with 3,080.
Commissioner Simon Woolley from the EHRC, said: "It is time we saw real improvement in these statistics.
"It is unrealistic and unhelpful to demand that policing should be perfect.
"However, police services should strive to work fairly and effectively while respecting basic human rights and discrimination law."
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