Young black people are six times more likely than whites to be stopped by British police and are subject to discrimination, a Home Affairs Committee report revealed.

The study, titled 'Young Black People and the Criminal Justice System', unveiled damning findings suggesting that racism and stereotyping may be contributing to the significant numbers of blacks who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Young blacks, as well as those of 'mixed' ethnicity, are also less likely to receive unconditional bail, and have a higher rate of being remanded in custody than whites.

"Statistics show that young, black people are overrepresented at all stages of the criminal justice system ... As a group, they are more likely to be stopped and searched by the police, less likely to be given unconditional bail and more likely to be remanded in custody than white young offenders," the report read.

The Home Affairs report, published June 15, comes less than a week after Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson polls revealed most Jamaicans believed that racism was rampant in England.

Racism Rampant

Some 64 per cent of 400 Jamaicans sampled in England believed that much racism existed there, while another 28 per cent said there was some amount of racism.

Although only 2.7 per cent of Britons aged 10-17 years old are black, 8.5 per cent are represented in the justice system in England and Wales, the report stated.

However, whites dominate the lion's share of young arrestees, 85 per cent, compared to six per cent blacks and three per cent Asians.

That blacks are caught up in the vortex of violence is undeniable, however. In fact, blacks - young and old - are three times more likely to be arrested than whites.

The survey, which was commissioned in March 2006, also linked the alarming level of crime among young black men to poverty and scholastic underachievement.

In Southwark, for example, blacks account for 71 per cent of robbery arrests, yet only 37 per cent of the population is black.

Even more controversial is the fact that as many as three-quarters of the young, black, male population will soon be on Britain's DNA database.

Currently, DNA samples can be taken by the police from anyone arrested and detained in police custody in connection with a recordable offence. This includes most offences other than traffic offences, the report said.

andre.wright@gleanerjm.com