West Midlands Police chief: Stop and search must always be 'lawful and proportionate'

Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Monday the easing of conditions on the use of the tactics under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act.

The powers allow officers the right to search people without reasonable grounds in an area where they expect serious violence, and to look for weapons before they can be used, or those used in a recent attack.

Now the changes will extend the length of time the powers can be in force from 15 hours to 24 hours, and the period a Section 60 can be extended to is now 48 hours, whereas it was previously limited to 39 hours.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said: “Police use of stop and search powers can be an appropriate and necessary tool to detect and investigate crime.

"However, I want stop and search to be used effectively and efficiently, so that more dangerous weapons are removed from our streets.

"Section 60 stops and searches are only a part of efforts to prevent violence. If the government is serious about preventing and tackling violence then it should level up, return our 1,000 missing police officers and provide fair funding for West Midlands Police.

"The use of stop and search must always be lawful and proportionate. I will continue to monitor use of Section 60 powers, which do not require 'reasonable grounds' for each search, to understand their effectiveness in reducing violence.

"I will also work with the Chief Constable to maintain a higher level of authorisation for their use, as well as an appropriate level of communication with the public about when and where authorisations are in place."

The wider use of stop and search is controversial because of concerns that it disproportionately affects black and minority ethnic communities, with campaign groups previously warning that relaxing the restrictions could compound discrimination in the UK.

The rank at which officers are able to authorise the deployment of stop and search has been lowered from senior officer to inspector under the changes, while a superintendent can now extend the authorisation.

Authorising officers now only need to anticipate that serious violence "may" occur rather than "will" occur, and no longer need to publicly communicate authorisations to communities in advance.

Ms Patel said: "The devasting impact of knife crime on families who have lost their loved one is unbearable. No one should have to endure the pain and suffering of the victims of these appalling crimes and we have a responsibility to them to do everything in our power to prevent future tragedies."

She said the use of stop and search has increased by around 85 per cent since 2019 and has contributed to some 50,000 weapons being taken off the streets.

"I stand wholeheartedly behind the police so that they can build on their work to drive down knife crime by making it easier for officers to use these powers to seize more weapons, arrest more suspects and save more lives," the Home Secretary continued.

The move coincided with the launch of Operation Sceptre, described as a week of "intensive action" by police forces in England and Wales to tackle knife crime.

It comes after the introduction of Serious Violence Reduction Orders under the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act passed last month, which are intended to make such checks easier.

The Home Office rolled back restrictions on the Section 60 tactics in 2019 as part of a bid to crack down on knife crime.

A recent report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog urged an overhaul of the use of stop-and-search powers to tackle the disproportionate impact the measures have on ethnic minority groups.

In the year to March 2021, black people were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, while Asian people were two-and-a-half times more likely.

The report included one case study of a black boy who was searched more than 60 times between the ages of 14 and 16, sometimes more than once in the same day.