Hampshire Police, the force criticised for its response to the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, is over five times more likely to stop and search black people than white people, according to the latest figures. The racial disparity in the force is higher than the national average for England and Wales and has worsened in recent years.
In the last year data was available, Hampshire officers were 5.1 times more likely to stop and search a black person than a white person, compared with an average disproportionality rate of 3.8 times across England and Wales. The force carried out 15,000 stops in 2025-26, with 60% leading to no further action or advice. The racial disparity has increased from 4.8 times in 2024-5 and 4.1 times in 2023-4.
The murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton last December by Vickrum Digwa sparked claims of 'two-tier justice' and anti-white bias after officers treated the victim as a suspect, handcuffing and arresting him despite him saying he had been stabbed. Digwa had falsely told police he was racially abused. The force, which is 96.4% white compared with 90.6% of the local population, declined to comment.
Duwayne Brooks, a friend of Stephen Lawrence who was with him during the 1993 racist attack, said the treatment of Nowak was 'lazy policing', not anti-white racism. He said: 'We’ve always received lazy policing. Now it is more widespread and more people are experiencing it and a boy lost his life.' The Crown Prosecution Service director Stephen Parkinson acknowledged disproportionality in the criminal justice system, noting that evidence shows a greater likelihood of prosecution for ethnic minorities.
