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.<\/p>\n
A public consultation has been launched into the College of Policing\u2019s stop and search guidance after the Government extended Section 60 powers to all police forces in England and Wales.<\/p>\n
Race equality organisations have complained to the Government that the Section 60 proposals are \u201ctoo 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\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Essex Police Federation Chairman Steve Taylor says stop and search plays a really important part of policing as knife crime levels have soared.<\/p>\n
He explained: \u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we allow ourselves into a position where society doesn\u2019t want us stopping and searching, but at the same time it\u2019s society itself going around armed with knives, attacking itself, you\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve said he was aware of cultural sensitivities, and that it was the service\u2019s responsibility to \u201ctread carefully to avoid making those problems any worse\u201d.<\/p>\n
But he added: \u201cTo simply stop or reduce stop and search isn\u2019t the answer, because it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf my ethnicity was different, if I was a particular characteristic that meant I was getting frequently stopped and searched even though I\u2019d 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\u2019s why we have to be sensitive around its use. That is a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be denied the opportunity to successfully implement stop and search because the challenge is too great and we\u2019re deemed to be upsetting and worrying too many people. It\u2019s not an easy one to crack. We\u2019ve got to get better at it. We should be allowed to get better, not just told we can\u2019t do it because it\u2019s too controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"