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Stop and Search Laws to be changed?

Following the horrific rise in knife crime, police chiefs have requested that the use of stop and search powers be expanded.
Under the existing law the stop and search laws require that a police officer has ‘reasonable grounds’ for suspicion before they can stop and search, this has brought criticism that the stop and search laws show clear evidence of police discrimination against ethnic minority communities, the statistics for knife crime in London show that victims are disproportionately black.
Knife crime is usually associated with poverty and often with poor mental health, failing schools and a lack of economic opportunity. Ethnicity can be a marker of these circumstances, but it is not a cause.

The police chiefs have set out a number of proposals to combat knife crime which include

- Changes to the approach on stop and search laws.
- Those caught with a knife to undergo a program of education rather than prosecution.

The existing law requires police offices to record the concern they had in detail before they can carry out a stop and search, under the new law justification for a stop and search will be lowered, but the reason for the search must still be recorded.
The existing laws are covered under the Criminal Evidence Act (Pace) of 1984 which has not kept up with the changes in society and the use of social media which can be the trigger points for violence.

119 lives have been lost in London this year and things need to change, even if they do cause controversy, if they work then the powers that be can work to lessen the controversy, the Prime Minister was against relaxing the stop and search laws when she was Home Secretary but Sajid Javid, the existing Home Secretary, is supporting the increased use of the police power, and the changes in the law.

Stop and Search Laws to be changed?
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