STEP up stop and search to save lives, Suella Braverman has told cops.
The Home Secretary will promise to change the law to make sure data on every single stop and search is collected to restore faith in the practice.
Alamy Live News. 2R75G2B London, UK. 13th June, 2023. Suella Braverman, Home Secretary, at Number 10 for the weekly Cabinet meeting. Credit: Joe Maida/Alamy Live News This is an Alamy Live News image and may not be part of your current Alamy deal . If you are unsure, please contact our sales team to check.
She is writing to every police chief today to urge them to use their full powers of “common sense policing” to properly protect the public from knife crime.
She reveals that 100,000 weapons have been pulled off the streets using the power and others since 2019 – half of which were seized through stop and searches.
A staggering 220,000 arrests have been made as a result, according to Home Office figures.
The controversial practice has been dubbed racist by critics, who say it unfairly targets young ethnic minority Brits.
But Ms Braverman says it can help save lives and is a part of “common sense policing”.
And she called on cops to publish more body-worn footage of stand-offs more quickly – to avoid trial by social media.
But in a bid to try and boost confidence in the tactic, she will tell them to communicate section 60 orders with the local community, and collect data on every stop and search interaction to ensure transparency and public scrutiny.
And data on every stop and search interaction must continue to be collected for the Home Office to publish for transparency and public scrutiny.
The Home Office is also working on a national framework on how the use of police powers – including stop and search – are scrutinised at a local level.
Ms Braverman last night dubbed carrying weapons as a “scourge on our society.”
She added: “Anyone doing so is risking their own lives as well as the lives of those around them. This dangerous culture must be brought to a stop.
“My first priority is to keep the public safe and people who insist on carrying a weapon must know that there will be consequences.
“The police have my full support to ramp up the use of stop and search, wherever necessary, to prevent violence and save more lives.
“Every death from knife crime is a tragedy. We need to do everything in our power to crack down on this violence.”
Nearly 100 young people lost their lives to knife crime in the year to March 2022 – a third of whom were black.
