Changes to stop and search

Meg Hillier has welcomed a reduction in use of police stop and search powers.

Speaking in the Chamber of the House of Commons, Meg highlighted that the manner of stop and search was an issue as well as its frequency.

The changes were announced following an inquiry which revealed that a quarter of searches may have been illegal. Recent figures showed that only 10 per cent of the million stop and searches a year ever lead to an arrest and also that black people were six times more likely to be stopped than white people.

A revised set of guidelines for stop and searches will now be issued to police and the Home Secretary has promised to introduce legislation if the new guidelines do not lead to a dramatic decrease in the number of stop and searches.

The Met police has made progress in the last year after adopting a new approach. London has seen a marked reduction in the number of black men stopped and more of those stopped arrested.

Meg says, "I will continue to monitor police progress on this matter at a local and national level. If the police misuse their stop and search powers it wastes their time and stops them from catching real criminals. It also breeds resentment and distrust of the police in the communities that they are there to help."