Mark Rowley launches initiative that includes reset of stop and search, but acknowledges ‘there is still a lot to do’
Scotland Yard has launched its latest steps to try to rebuild trust with London’s black community, which the Met police commissioner acknowledged had been let down for many years.
Mark Rowley said “there remains a long way to go and there is a lot more work to do”, but that the force’s race action plan was a step in the right direction.
Continue reading...Controversial power had less impact in 2022-23 than tactics such as focused deterrence and hotspot policing, says charity
Stop and search is one of the less effective tactics to tackle rising violence such as knife crime, according to the results of a study.
Research by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), a charity funded by the Home Office to combat youth violence, found that other tactics – such as community-led focused deterrence, putting more officers on the streets in troubled areas or mentoring and diversion for potential suspects – produced bigger cuts in violence.
Continue reading...Chris Philp says police should not ‘tiptoe around using these powers in an aim to appease’ despite concerns over racial bias
Police officers must carry out more stop and searches to address knife crime as the tactic is “not used nearly often enough”, according to the policing minister.
Chris Philp said that police forces cannot afford to “tiptoe around using these powers in an aim to appease”.
Continue reading...UK home secretary says police have her full support in using tactic to prevent violence and save lives
Suella Braverman has called on police to increase the use of stop and search powers “to prevent violence and save more lives”.
In a statement aimed at all 43 forces in England and Wales, the home secretary said officers who used the powers had her “full support”.
Continue reading...Home secretary announces the end of limitations on use of section 60 powers where serious violence anticipated
The government is lifting restrictions placed on police stop and search powers in areas where they anticipate violent crime, the home secretary has announced.
In a letter to police forces on Monday, Priti Patel outlined the easing of conditions on the use of the tactics under section 60 of the criminal justice and public order act.
Continue reading...Government’s proposals include more frequent stop and search and making community service street cleaners ‘more visible’
MPs and campaigners have sounded alarm at a series of proposals in the government crime reduction plan, including more frequent stop and search, a trial of “alcohol tags” and criminals undertaking “visible” community service cleaning streets.
Liberty said the permanent relaxation of search powers would “compound discrimination in Britain and divide communities” and the former shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, said it was “alarming and counter-productive.”
Continue reading...London force accepts watchdog advice over flawed tactics undermining community confidence
The Metropolitan police force has been getting its use of stop and search wrong with multiple errors that have undermined its legitimacy, the police watchdog has found.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said police in one case stopped and searched two black men who were innocently fist bumping, because officers wrongly thought they were drug dealing.
Continue reading...After days of fierce protests against police brutality, Nigeria's government announced the dissolution of the infamous "Special Anti-Robbery Squad", commonly called Sars, a police unit plagued with allegations of extrajudicial killings, theft and abuse.
The Guardian's west Africa correspondent, Emmanuel Akinwotu, explains what sparked the #EndSars demonstrations across the country, how the movement trended internationally on social media, and why demonstrators do not trust promises of reform
Continue reading...Legal Lifelines app intended to provide alternative evidence to police bodycam footage
A black criminal lawyer has designed a free app to allow anyone at risk of being stopped and searched by police to film incidents to ensure they have an “independent witness” to any interactions.
Michael Herford a criminal lawyer with Legal Lifelines, said the app could help provide a different perspective on an incident from police bodycam footage, or evidence when a police bodycam was not turned on or its footage was lost.
Continue reading...Car driven by a friend pulled over by officers who later admitted they made a mistake
Dawn Butler, the Labour MP and former shadow equalities minister, has accused the police of being institutionally racist after she was stopped while driving to Sunday lunch with a friend.
Butler, a strong critic of police stop-and-search tactics, said the car was being driven by her male friend, who like Butler is black, when two police cars pulled it over in Hackney, east London. Officers said the vehicle was registered in North Yorkshire.
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