Stop and search U-turn to tackle acid attackers
CONTROVERSIAL powers to stop and search suspects are to return in a bid to help police to deal with the plague of acid attacks, the Home Secretary says.
Amber Rudd has expressed exasperation at a failure to tackle the crimewave but officers had been urged not to use the measures because the black community said it was unfairly targeted.
Stop and search doubters include Prime Minister Theresa May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
But yesterday, Ms Rudd ordered a U-turn.
In a newspaper article, she wrote that the effective use of stop and search was not a question of numbers.
She rejected a return to less-targeted checks but backed officers who used the tactic appropriately.
She wrote: “It is a vital tool to keep the public safe and officers who use the power correctly should have the full support of the public and their commanding officers.
“I want to be crystal clear – we have given the police the powers they need and officers who use stop and search appropriately, with reasonable grounds and in a targeted and intelligence-led way, will always have my full support.”
Ms Rudd indicated last month that convictions for acid attacks could soon carry life sentences to ensure perpetrators of the crime “feel the full force of the law”.
The proposal was part of a wider strategy to crack down on attacks as incident numbers soared.
Last month, the Home Office said “indicative figures” from 39 police forces across England and Wales suggested that there had been more than 400 reported acid attacks in the six months to April.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick claimed that stop and search is “an extremely important power when properly used”.
She wrote: “I will support my officers if the number of stop and searches rises in the fight against knife crime and street violence.
“Stopping and searching should never define our relationship to young people of any community in London.
“For most of those I’ve met in recent weeks, including in some of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, fear of violence is the main concern.”
IN response to a spate of acid attacks Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said the police’s stop-and-search powers should be used to confront this menace. She is right. It is common sense to say that police officers need to check whether or not suspicious individuals are carrying bottles of acid.
This has to be part of a broader response to these acid attacks that must include significantly tougher punishments for perpetrators. Fortunately in Ms Rudd we have a politician who understands how worried people are about this issue and how important it is for the Government to act swiftly and decisively.