'Stop and search' to be extended

[Silver]

As the economic effects of Covid will recede as the economy opens up, the effects of "Brexit" will become more noticeable.

To help counter this, the government will be promoting racial awareness.

“Ineffective” and racially disproportionate blanket stop and search powers are to be expanded by the government under a new plan to “beat crime”.

Measures unveiled on Tuesday include changes to controversial police powers to search people without suspicion in areas where serious violence could break out.

The government said it would be “permanently relaxing voluntary conditions” for using section 60 powers as part of its Beating Crime Plan.

A press release said the change would “empower police to take more knives off the streets”, but an evaluation of a pilot running since 2019 has never been published.

The government initially allowed seven police forces to relax the grounds needed to impose section 60 searches, have them authorised by a lower-ranking officer and keep them in place for longer.

The pilot was extended to all forces in England and Wales in September 2020, but any impact on violent crime has not been publicly analysed.

Home Office figures show that in the year to March 2020, only 4 per cent of section 60 stop and searches resulted in an arrest, compared to 13 per cent for searches requiring reasonable suspicion that someone has a weapon, drugs or stolen property.

Across all stop and search powers, black people are nine times more likely to be stopped than white people, and the rate is even higher – 18 times – for section 60.

‘Ineffective’ and racially disproportionate blanket stop and search powers to be expanded | The Independent

Police Federation of England and Wales no longer has confidence in Home Secretary Priti Patel, calling pay freeze 'final straw' | UK News | Sky News

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Ted E Hughes

[L.A.T.1961]

Do we trust the Police ?

“The Government is giving the police these powers but ultimately it is an operational decision to use them and we expect officers to use their discretion.”

 

[Silver]

Oh well, we can expect a U-turn again. Johnson is desperately looking for a gimmick to hook public emotions now he can no longer use Brexit.

Police chiefs last night condemned Boris Johnson’s high profile strategy to tackle crime as “weird and gimmicky”, while plans to increase stop and search were criticised for ignoring the evidence.

The crime initiative was supposed to show the Johnson government gripping the agenda. But senior police officers, the rank and file, opposition politicians and even some in business rebuked it.

The criticism of Johnson’s crime plan is the latest in a series of set-backs for the prime minister’s domestic relaunch, after his landmark “levelling up” speech was mocked for being light on detail and his plan to overhaul social care delayed by Treasury wrangling and a Conservative backlash over tax rises.

Police chiefs condemn Boris Johnson’s crime plan as ‘weird and gimmicky’ | Police | The Guardian

Edited July 27, 2021 by Ted E Hughes