Public Order Bill — Clause 11 — Powers to stop and search without suspicion — 22 Mar 2023 at 15:00

“intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance”,

“tunnelling…being present in a tunnel… obstruction etc of major transport works”,

“Racial disparity continues in stop and search in London. This has been repeatedly confirmed in reports and research. Our Review corroborates these findings.”

“as a minimum, Met officers should be required to give their name, their shoulder number, the grounds for the stop and a receipt confirming the details of that stop.”

“The chief superintendent must take reasonable steps to inform the public when the powers conferred by this section are in active use.”

“more than a minor degree”.

“justified carrying out a search based on a person’s ethnicity alone”.

“Had been rude or uncivil while carrying out a search”

“had used excessive force, leaving people (often young people) humiliated, distressed, and this damaged trust in the Met”.

“The chief superintendent must take reasonable steps to inform the public when the powers conferred by this section are in active use.”

“We heard that being stopped and searched can be humiliating and traumatic. Yet we could find no evidence of the Met considering how this would impact on how those who had been stopped would use the police service”.

“The lack of comprehensive workforce planning and prioritisation…throughout this report also makes for a weak approach to learning and development. Officers regularly said that they had to keep their own records and that they were not held centrally.”

“While they can be tasked to carry out policing functions in a BCU area, they are not accountable to the BCU chain of command. This can undermine a BCU’s attempts to own its very extensive patch, and to be fully accountable for policing there, both to the Met and to the public.”

“We were told that specialist teams tended to have rigid attitudes to their style of policing. ‘TSG come here not knowing the area…they come late, allegedly go to the gym on job time…they annoy the community, and arrest people who probably didn’t need to be arrested anyway… My colleagues think it suppresses crime. I don’t think it’s worth the community upset, it poisons the relationship with the community.’”

“The reality of policing means that most of the time, police officers are in threat perception and threat management mode.”I suggest that when people are policing in those kinds of modes, the strain they are under means that making good decisions, potentially about complex legislation, becomes more challenging.

“On balance, our view is that, with appropriate guidance and robust and effective safeguards, the proposed stop and search powers would have the potential to improve police efficiency and effectiveness in preventing disruption and making the public safe.”

Debate in Parliament |