Bring back stop and search, says police leader
POLICE officers are reluctant to use their stop and search powers because of the “chill effect” of political interference, one of Britain’s most senior officers has said.
Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, Sara Thornton, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, urges officers to have the confidence to use the powers available to them in order to respond to a deadly surge in street violence. Acknowledging that stop and search is not a “silver bullet”, Ms Thornton says it remains a vital tool if used properly. The former chief constable of Thames Valley Police says that, while she is not advocating random stop and search, targeted patrols of known hotspots needed to be part of a swift response.
Yesterday a Section 60 order, granting police stop and search powers across the Borough of Newham, was announced following an incident in which a 13-year-old boy was stabbed.
Ms Thornton’s comments also come as Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, announced that 300 extra officers would be deployed across the capital this weekend in a show of force. “We have not lost control of the streets,” she said. “I can understand why some people are very worried at the moment… We have had some ghastly homicides, particularly in the last few days, including those of really young people, and that is bound to be frightening.
“Just this weekend we have 300 extra officers each day in the areas in the most significant hotspots where there have been high levels of knife crime.
“Every police chief would always want more officers and more resources. It’s my job to make the case for more and also to make the best use of what we’ve got.”
Along-term strategy to tackle the roots of violent crime is desperately needed – and I hope that’s what we’ll see next week from the Home Office’s serious violence strategy. But when we have children dying on the streets, the police’s first priority needs to be what can be done now to stop this waste of life.
That’s exactly what Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick is doing. She’s taking sensible, practical steps that should bear results quickly.
The police response to rising violence must not just be swift but sure. While it is the murders in London that have horrified the public, the rises in violent crime, knife crime and gun crime are not restricted to the capital. Knife crime has increased by 21 per cent and gun crime by 20 per cent on the previous year across the country. Our officers must know that we back them to use their powers – lawfully and respectfully, but with confidence. There are two particular police powers to search for weapons. Their use has to be part of the police response.
Chief constables tell me that their officers have been feeling hesitant about using stop and search. That seems to be reflected in the numbers – with searches under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act falling by nearly three quarters in the last six years from 1.2million in 2010/11 to just over 300,000 in 2016/17. This is not a power exercised by officers at random but has to be based upon having reasonable grounds for suspecting that a prohibited article is being carried.
The reduction in the use of this power has been impacted by fewer officers on patrol and a more intelligence-led approach, but I fear some of it is down to a chill effect where officers feel overly cautious about using a power that has been subject to so much political debate.
There is also a power under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which is specifically aimed at gang violence. It allows a senior officer, where acts of violence have or will occur, to designate a specific area for a limited amount of time in which any person can be searched for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments. The use of this power has been discouraged and the statistics are stark. In London alone, the use of this power has fallen from 1,429 instances to 23 between 2011/12 and 2016/17 and nationally the number of stop and searches as a result has fallen from 46,973 to just 617 in the same period.
This power may have been used too freely in the past, but the pendulum
‘‘This power may have been used too freely in the past, but the pendulum has now swung too far the other way’
has now swung too far in the opposite direction.
We should also avoid the trap of creating a too simple distinction between stop and search targeted at weapons and drugs, and label one use of the power good and one bad. When we know there is a strong connection between drug dealing and the violent crime rises we are seeing, it is legitimate for officers to stop and search for drug possession – even if in itself it is not classed as a “priority crime”. Evidence points to “county lines” gangs and the distribution of drugs as playing an important role in driving up violent crime.
This is likely due to more violent dealers as well as the psychoactive impact of drugs like crack cocaine.
The research on police legitimacy shows that public confidence and support is significantly affected by the way in which officers use their powers. Police training therefore emphasises the fact that treating those stopped with dignity and respect is essential. The increased use of body worn video by officers on patrol means that many stop and search encounters can now be filmed. This, too, will increase the confidence of the public that powers are being used appropriately.
I am not advocating random stop and search, or abusing our powers in headlining-grabbing crackdowns. I am advocating policing that we know works, targeted patrols of hotspots, with our officers certain we are behind them to use their judgment and their powers in the public interest.
Stop and search or arrests are not a silver bullet, but they are an important tool in helping to protect the public from violent crime. Policing has an important part to play, and we will play it, but we cannot address the social conditions that lead to violence in the first place.