Backlash against Howard’s stop and search proposals
Police and crime protection groups have immediately moved to distance themselves from Michael Howard’s pledge that the Conservatives would not implement one of the Macpherson proposals on stop and search.
The Macpherson Report, set up after the death of Stephen Lawrence, recommended that the police should be required to record all stop and searches and issue a receipt to the person stopped giving a reason for the stop.
In a speech on Tuesday, Mr Howard said that such a requirement was time consuming, claiming that each stop took about seven minutes to record. He stressed that the system, as currently being trialled, would require the police officer to record each stop, not just those which led to a search.
The Conservative leader demanded: “If a police officer saw a troublemaker on the high street, is he or she more likely to stop him if it means having to spend seven minutes filling in the paperwork.
“Imagine if it was half a dozen – that’s not just seven minutes – that’s the best part of an hour.”
The Conservatives would therefore not implement the recording procedure.
This suggestion though brought immediate criticism from the chief executive of crime reduction charity Narco.
Paul Cavadino, said: “Abandoning the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry proposals on stop and search would be an appallingly retrograde step.
“The racially biased use of stop and search is the biggest single factor damaging the confidence of Black and Asian communities in criminal justice. Improved recording of stops and searches is a crucial part of tackling this problem. Abandoning this measure would be an abdication of government responsibility to combat racism and discrimination in policing.”
The chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Len Duvall, firmly rejected the suggestion that the recording of stop and searches is about political correctness.
He said: “Recommendation 61 of the Macpherson report was in response to real and widespread mistrust of policing methods. The issue should not be mistakenly associated with political correctness – it is about regaining the trust and confidence of all our communities.
“But while the power to stop is a valuable tool for policing, the MPA recognises that it needs to be used with sensitivity to public concerns.
“Young Londoners of all backgrounds told the MPA during our recent Stop & Search Scrutiny that they are worried by current practice which, in their eyes, appears unaccountable and hostile.
“We firmly believe that Rec 61 is a fair and sensitive solution and that its introduction will further develop policing by consent.”
Concerns also came from the Liberal Democrat’s home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten. He said: “Michael Howard is right to cut police bureaucracy, but there are some corners that cannot be cut.
“The Macpherson Report recommended stop and search safeguards to improve community cohesion and restore the faith of all communities in the police after the tragic murder of Stephen Lawrence.
“Last month the Government admitted that too many people from ethnic minorities were being stopped and searched. Michael Howard seems determined to make this situation worse.”
