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Welcoming a new approach to stop and search
• WE were pleased to hear that the Metropolitan Police will be taking a new approach to using controversial powers of “stop and search”.
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act currently permits police to stop anyone, in effect anywhere in London, without needing reasonable grounds for suspicion.
Over the past few years, some members of our community, particularly young men and black and minority ethnic groups, have come to regard these powers as unfair, undermining their confidence in the police and damaging community relations.
So we were pleased to hear that the Met will be restricting where these Section 44 powers can be used to specific defined places that might be vulnerable to terrorist incidents.
This is a sea-change in approach and one that we have been urging through the stop and search monitoring group of the Camden Community and Police Consultative Group.
We meet regularly to review the use of stop and search in Camden, and had become frustrated by the growing use of Section 44 and the lack of good information about its use.
When it is used with caution and courtesy, stop and search can be an important tool in the battle against terrorism and violent crime.
So through Camden CPCG, we will continue to monitor and scrutinise how the police in Camden use their powers of stop and search to make sure that our community remains both safe and confident in the way that they are being policed.
Janine Griffis, Chair, Camden Community and Police Consultative Group
Cllr James King, Chair, Stop and Search Monitoring Group
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