Stop-and-search policy questioned

THERE IS no apparent link between the increased number of police stop-andsearches and the reduction in violent crime in Scotland, according to Police Scotland’s civilian watchdog.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) found it difficult to find a rationale for the roll-out of stop-and-search throughout Scotland, a review of the practice concluded.

It is “questionable” why children under 10 were being subjected to non-statutory searches, which require the consent of the individual, given children’s limited ability to understand their rights or give informed consent, the SPA said.

Searches appeared disproportionate, with people in low crime areas being subjected to the same number of searches as those in places with high crime rates, it said.

The number of positive searches for weapons and firearms have almost halved since it became a nationwide policy under Police Scotland, it added.

Some police officers feel pressurised to carry out a large number of searches despite PPoliceli SScotland’stl d’ iinsistencei t ththatt ththere are no targets, the SPA continued.

While the SPA acknowledged stop-andsearch does contribute to a drop in violent crime, it said “the extent of that contribution is unknown”.

Chief Constable Steve House reiterated his insistence that there are no stop-andsearch targets, but acknowledged improvements could be made.

Police Scotland has established a national stop-and-search unit to ensure consistency of approach.

It is also recording every search in a database, recording personal details where given, the name of the searching officer and the reason for the search.

Launching the review of stop-and-search at an SPA briefing in Glasgow, authority member Brian Barbour said: “Our primary conclusion is that stop-and-search as a tactic does contribute to a reduction in violence and reducing anti-social behaviour, but the extent of that contribution is unknown.

“We could find no causal link between the reduction in violence and the volume of stop-and-search activity.”

The SPA found a 0.7% drop in overall searches, largely down to “a significant decrease” of 45,000 in Glasgow, while other areas saw notable increases — particularly inTayside, Fife and central Scotland.

SPA member Paul Rooney said Glasgow and Aberdeen had “markedly different” search levels highlighting “a potential proportionality issue”.

“Even in the west where most stop-andsearch activity occurs, relative disproportionality was in evidence with, for example, East Renfrewshire, a relatively low-crime area, having a similar stop-and-search ratio to somewhere like North Lanarkshire which is a relatively high crime area,” he said.

Picture: Gordon Jack. Three-year-old Ada Smith from Edinburgh struggles with a clematis at Gardening Scotland which runs at the Royal Highland Showground until tomorrow.