Stop And Search Can Break Cycle Of Crime

STOP and search is a vital tool in the fight against knife crime and the police service needs to be able to carry it out in order to keep people safe.

A public consultation has been launched into the College of Policing’s stop and search guidance after the Government extended Section 60 powers to all police forces in England and Wales.

Race equality organisations have complained to the Government that the Section 60 proposals are “too often discriminatory, inflammatory, ineffectual in reducing serious violent crime, and ultimately alienating to a generation of young children and adults that are from black, Asian and ethnic minority heritage”.

But Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor says stop and search plays a really important part of policing as knife crime levels have soared.

He explained: “It’s another one of those tools that is at the centre of a lot of high profile crime at the moment, knife crime being front and centre amongst that.

“If we allow ourselves into a position where society doesn’t want us stopping and searching, but at the same time it’s society itself going around armed with knives, attacking itself, you’re robbing the police of one of the tools that might help break that cycle of crime. I think would be quite short-sighted to do so.”

Steve said he was aware of cultural sensitivities, and that it was the service’s responsibility to “tread carefully to avoid making those problems any worse”.

But he added: “To simply stop or reduce stop and search isn’t the answer, because it’s an important tool. So we need to get better at how we implement it and to be allowed to implement it without fear of complaint or retribution.

“If my ethnicity was different, if I was a particular characteristic that meant I was getting frequently stopped and searched even though I’d done no wrong, simply because of where I was and at that time, I am going to find that grating. It is going to frustrate me. I am going to push back against that and see it as a wrong. That’s why we have to be sensitive around its use. That is a challenge.

“We shouldn’t be denied the opportunity to successfully implement stop and search because the challenge is too great and we’re deemed to be upsetting and worrying too many people. It’s not an easy one to crack. We’ve got to get better at it. We should be allowed to get better, not just told we can’t do it because it’s too controversial.”