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Stop and search was always a controversial police tactic that was used disproportionately in the case of young black men.
But after the failed attempt to bomb a London night club in 2007, the police powers to stop and search individuals without reasonable suspicion were used far more widely, as allowed under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, in order to combat terrorism rather than crime. As a result, police targeted many Muslims as well as black youths.
Yet it yielded few real results, certainly not proportionate to the amount of vexation it caused people simply going about their normal business.
Now the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, John Yates, has yielded to criticism of the tactic, particularly from the Government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlile.
He believes that section 44 is overused. Under new plans, police would stop and search people only where there is reasonable suspicion that they are involved in terrorist activity.
However, police will still be able to stop and search in critical areas, such as near Parliament, and in big railway stations or where people gather in large numbers.
This is a sensible proposal. However courteously stop and search is carried out, it still infuriates people who feel they are targeted for no other reason than their background. In the interests of good community relations, it has to be reformed.
DNA difficulties
The genetic details of 4.5 million individuals held on the national DNA database in England and Wales makes it among the largest in the world.
It has yielded 400,000 crime-scene matches over a decade and has led to the resolution of a number of "cold case crimes" in which serious offenders have been caught, and innocent people cleared, years after the original offence.
The database has helped justice be done, and led to the release of the innocent as well as the conviction of the guilty.
Yet, undeniably, there are real problems about holding the genetic material of innocent people. At present, anyone arrested by the police has their DNA material retained, whether or not they are later released or acquitted.
Now, after a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which declared that the system did not differentiate between criminals, the severity of crimes and the innocent, the Government has changed tack.
The Home Office proposes to delete after 12 years the DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted of a serious crime and after six years, those of anyone arrested but not convicted of other offences and to retain indefinitely data on those convicted of an offence.
This is a pragmatic response, based on patterns of reoffending and on the fact that some people whom police arrest, even if not convicted, turn out to be implicated in other offences.
While this compromise is justified, we should be wary of further attempts by government to hold genetic data of innocent people against their will. Justice demands that we distinguish between the guilty and the innocent.
School heroes
The Evening Standard's School Awards are 10 years old. They are our way of celebrating the extraordinary achievements of some of London's best schools - the heads, the teachers, the parents and the children.
This year, as always, we recognise not only the outstanding merits of schools that have a distinguished academic record, such as Queen Elizabeth's School in Barnet and the Newton Farm Nursery First and Middle School, but also those, such as the Robert Clack School in Dagenham and the Gateway Primary School, which fulfil their pupils' potential even though many children come from deprived backgrounds and immigrant families.
What is apparent is that it is dedicated leadership that makes the most difference to a school, regardless of its environment. That lesson can be taken to heart by all London's schools.
Reader views (2)
Police State UK is alive and well.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe UK, 08/05/2009 08:48
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Queen Elizabeth's School Barnet reminds us of the opportunities that used to exist for many thousands of children before the Levellers demolished London's best state schools
- Ted Fine, Hertfordshire, 07/05/2009 21:17
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