The Metropolitan Police have been criticised for "unacceptable" use of stop and search powers designed to prevent terrorism.

The Home Office-appointed watchdog said London's police were stopping people for no good reason.

Lord Carlile said the "alarming numbers" of people stopped was "bad news" and could damage race relations.

Section 44 of the 2000 Terrorism Act gave police the right to stop and search people even when there was no reason to suspect an offence had occurred.

But police can only use this power if they believe it will help prevent acts of terrorism.

The search powers can only be used in specific areas, on the orders of a senior police officer, such as a Commander or officer of higher rank.

But the Metropolitan Police had simply designated the whole of London as a stop and search area, Lord Carlile said.

In a hard-hitting report, he warned: "I now feel a sense of frustration that the Metropolitan Police still does not limit their section 44 authorisations to some boroughs only, or parts of boroughs, rather than to the entire force area.

"I cannot see a justification for the whole of the Greater London area being covered permanently, and the intention of the section was not to place London under permanent special search powers."

He added: "The alarming numbers of usages of the power (between 8,000 and 10,000 stops per month as we entered 2009) represent bad news, and I hope for better in a year's time.

"The figures, and a little analysis of them, show that section 44 is being used as an instrument to aid non-terrorism policing on some occasions, and this is unacceptable."

Lord Carlile said he backed the use of stop and search when it might genuinely prevent terrorism, such as when there was concern about security at Heathrow Airport.

The peer, a practicing barrister and Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, said Section 44 searches could do "considerable" damage to community relations if they were used incorrectly.

But he said there was evidence that police were sometimes stopping people who clearly were not terrorists, simply so that they could claim not to be targeting specific ethnic communities.

"I believe that it is totally wrong for any person to be stopped in order to produce a racial balance in the section 44 statistics. There is ample anecdotal evidence that this is happening.

"I can well understand the concerns of the police that they should be free from allegations of prejudice; but it is not a good use of precious resources if they waste them on self-evidently unmerited searches."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Stop and search under the Terrorism Act 2000 is an important tool in the on-going fight against terrorism. As part of a structured anti-terrorist strategy, the powers help to deter terrorist activity by creating a hostile environment for would-be terrorists to operate.

"Countering the terrorist threat and ensuring good community relations are interdependent and we are continuing to work with the police to ensure that the use of stop and search powers strikes the right balance."

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Website (optional)

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment