An exploration of the relationship between rises in violent offending and reduction in stop and searches within Scotland

The Scottish Police force amalgamated its eight forces in 2013 in what Murray and Harkin (2018) defined as a politically cool climate with little media scrutiny and political interference. Stop and search (S&S) in this climate was a key performance indicator for Police Scotland with a culturally inherent belief (Deuchar and Miller 2016) that it was an effective procedure in reducing levels of violent crime, weapon carrying and alcohol and drug use and distribution. This cool climate quickly became hot following Murray’s (2014) research which highlighted the controversial use of the tactic with high levels of stop and searches occurring (four times that of England and Wales) alongside a disproportionality towards children and young people. This created an unprecedented level of scrutiny which had the outcome of adversely affected levels of police legitimacy within Scotland and resulted in dramatic changes to the use of the policy through the creation of an Independent Advisory Group which created a Code of Practice. Since 2015, stop and search has reduced dramatically but is still situated within a hot climate with high levels of political and media scrutiny (Murray and Harkin, 2018). This is partially due to the reduction in levels of S&S and rises in levels of violence which the media and other moral entrepreneurs’ claim are inexorably linked.

In light of the recently renewed media attention on stop and search policy following several high profile cases in England and Wales and a rise in rates of gun and knife crimes there is growing media and political pressure to increase the use of stop and searches. Drawing on a mixed methods approach the aim of this research is to explore the relationship between rises in violent offending and reduction in stop and searches (S&S) within Scotland. The ideal PhD candidate would have experience of mixed method research at a masters level including both qualitative and quantitative research experience. An understanding of the police force and the issues that disadvantaged populations experience would also be advantageous when applying for this studentship.