Black people three times more likely to be stopped and searched by West Midlands Police

The figures, released by police.uk, also show that two thirds of the force's stop and searches result in no further action.

Between January and June this year, 1,172 black or black British people were stopped. This means, with 164,069 black or black British people in the West Midlands, 7.14 per 1,000 are being stopped. This is the second highest number across all ethnicities.

Caribbean is the highest with 9.47, with people of a dual heritage of white and black Caribbean and white and black African also up there with 6.24 and 6.77 respectively.

A total of 4,642 white people were stopped across the six months, with a rate of 2.42 per 1,000.

Chief Superintendent Chris Todd, stop and search lead for West Midlands Police, said: "Stop and search powers are a vital tool in protecting people and reducing crime. Every year, many offenders are identified as a result of them being stopped and searched, and others are persuaded not to commit illegal acts as a result of them knowing that they risk being caught.

"A well explained and sensitively conducted stop and search can help demonstrate to communities that police are actively tackling crime in their neighbourhood.

"While the latest figures demonstrate a disproportionate level of stop and searches it's an improving picture: in 2011/12, black people in the West Midlands were 4.6 times more likely to be stopped than white people, with Asian people twice as likely to be stopped. Last year (2014/15) that disproportionally had reduced to 2.8 times and 1.5 times respectively."

West Midlands Police stopped 8,478 people between January and June, with 6,485 resulting in no further action. This equates to 76.49 per cent of stops not leading to an arrest, caution or a local resolution.

Of the 1,993 stop and searches that had a police outcome, 71.5 per cent were linked to the purpose of the search, i.e. a person was suspected of being in possession of stolen goods and was found to be in possession of stolen goods.

Ch Supt Todd said: "The total number of stop and searches has also reduced to 14,500 with 23 per cent now resulting in a positive outcome, such as an arrest or a caution. In 2011/12, there were 64,000 stops of which only four per cent resulted in arrests.

"We are endeavouring to improve further having introduced extra training to frontline officers and holding officers to account through stop and search scrutiny panels chaired by members of the public.

"The force remains committed to ensuring all stops and searches are conducted ethically, impartially and objectively and that those stopped and searched are treated with courtesy, consideration and respect."