Stop and search harms fight against knife crime, Met officer says

Stop and search for suspected minor drug crimes such as cannabis possession is hampering the Metropolitan police’s ability to tackle London’s knife crime epidemic by souring relationships with the public, the chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association has said.

DS Janet Hills said stopping and searching young people on suspicion of simple cannabis possession alienated potential witnesses and sources of intelligence, and created an adversarial relationship between officers and the people they are supposed to serve.

“It’s not worth the loss of trust or confidence with the community because of the huge violent crime problem we are working with,” she said. “It’s the same community that we need to give us the intelligence. It’s the same community that we need as witnesses.

“When we use stop and search in that way it absolutely impacts our ability to reach and engage with the community where it counts.”

Hills spoke after a meeting at City Hall called by the Greater London Authority to address disproportionality in policing and the justice system. It also examined how the findings and recommendations of the recent Lammy review could be implemented in the capital.

Source: theguardian