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| Theresa May steps up campaign to end unfair police use of stop and search | Theresa May steps up campaign to end unfair police use of stop and search |
| (8 days later) | |
| Theresa May has warned the police that improper use of their stop-and-search powers can cause immense resentment and undermine public co-operation. | Theresa May has warned the police that improper use of their stop-and-search powers can cause immense resentment and undermine public co-operation. |
| The home secretary said: "I do not have to tell you how important it is that public confidence in the police is maintained. And it simply cannot be maintained if people think that senior police officers are lacking in integrity or behaving in a self-serving way – or if, on the street, your constables are being rude and disrespectful to the public." | The home secretary said: "I do not have to tell you how important it is that public confidence in the police is maintained. And it simply cannot be maintained if people think that senior police officers are lacking in integrity or behaving in a self-serving way – or if, on the street, your constables are being rude and disrespectful to the public." |
| Her speech, to the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales conference, marks May's strongest language yet in her campaign to scale back the "waste of time" involved in the 1.2m searches carried out by the police on the street every year. She has said that the resulting arrest rate, which can be as little as 3% in some areas, is "far too low for comfort". | Her speech, to the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales conference, marks May's strongest language yet in her campaign to scale back the "waste of time" involved in the 1.2m searches carried out by the police on the street every year. She has said that the resulting arrest rate, which can be as little as 3% in some areas, is "far too low for comfort". |
| But, significantly, the home secretary also praised the police for their capacity to deliver despite having suffered a 20% cut in their Whitehall funding. She even called them "the model public service", in sharp contrast to her previous description of them as "the last unreformed public service". | But, significantly, the home secretary also praised the police for their capacity to deliver despite having suffered a 20% cut in their Whitehall funding. She even called them "the model public service", in sharp contrast to her previous description of them as "the last unreformed public service". |
| "You have cut crime with fewer officers and lower budgets," May said. "You are doing more with less. That makes you the model public service in the era of budget cuts." | "You have cut crime with fewer officers and lower budgets," May said. "You are doing more with less. That makes you the model public service in the era of budget cuts." |
| The home secretary told the superintendents that stop and search could be an invaluable tool for reducing crime, particularly knife crime; if used properly and fairly, the tactic worked very effectively. | The home secretary told the superintendents that stop and search could be an invaluable tool for reducing crime, particularly knife crime; if used properly and fairly, the tactic worked very effectively. |
| She added, however: "But the caveat is vital: it works if it is used properly and fairly. Stop and search has the potential to cause immense resentment and honesty to the police, with all the implications that has for generating distrust and ending co-operation from the public, if it is not used fairly." | She added, however: "But the caveat is vital: it works if it is used properly and fairly. Stop and search has the potential to cause immense resentment and honesty to the police, with all the implications that has for generating distrust and ending co-operation from the public, if it is not used fairly." |
| May told the superintendents it was their responsibility to make sure stop and search was fairly implemented by their officers under their command: "Stop and search can either be an effective policy for stopping street crime or it can be a means of generating distrust of the police. You can determine which it is." | May told the superintendents it was their responsibility to make sure stop and search was fairly implemented by their officers under their command: "Stop and search can either be an effective policy for stopping street crime or it can be a means of generating distrust of the police. You can determine which it is." |
| May said she rejected the warning at the weekend from the superintendents' president, Irene Curtis, that the beat bobby was "an endangered species", claiming that the proportion of frontline officers had actually increased, from 89% to 91%, despite the reductions in police numbers. | May said she rejected the warning at the weekend from the superintendents' president, Irene Curtis, that the beat bobby was "an endangered species", claiming that the proportion of frontline officers had actually increased, from 89% to 91%, despite the reductions in police numbers. |
| She also warned the audience that targets, which she has scrapped nationally, are making a comeback in many forces, saying they are being used as a "security blanket" by managers. | She also warned the audience that targets, which she has scrapped nationally, are making a comeback in many forces, saying they are being used as a "security blanket" by managers. |
| "Those targets certainly aren't coming from me, and they aren't being used to increase the effectiveness of policing. Their main function seems to be to act as a security blanket for senior officers, a way to avoid taking responsibility for the decisions they have to make," said the home secretary. | "Those targets certainly aren't coming from me, and they aren't being used to increase the effectiveness of policing. Their main function seems to be to act as a security blanket for senior officers, a way to avoid taking responsibility for the decisions they have to make," said the home secretary. |
| "I am not saying that most or even many of you have responded in that way. But some of you have. And none of you should. It is essential that you have the confidence in yourselves that I have in you: the confidence to take responsibility for your own decisions, and not to try to hide behind an old process or procedure which enables you to evade responsibility." | "I am not saying that most or even many of you have responded in that way. But some of you have. And none of you should. It is essential that you have the confidence in yourselves that I have in you: the confidence to take responsibility for your own decisions, and not to try to hide behind an old process or procedure which enables you to evade responsibility." |
| May confirmed that additional trials were about to start in nine police forces to ensure that mentally ill people detained for their own safety were not held in police stations. She said the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had agreed to test a policy of having mental health professionals out on the beat with police officers, so that they were in a position to take the key decisions and control what happens. | May confirmed that additional trials were about to start in nine police forces to ensure that mentally ill people detained for their own safety were not held in police stations. She said the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had agreed to test a policy of having mental health professionals out on the beat with police officers, so that they were in a position to take the key decisions and control what happens. |
| She also promised the police she would finally sort out technology problems that have left officers carrying either an out-of-date device that cannot link to essential databases or none at all. | She also promised the police she would finally sort out technology problems that have left officers carrying either an out-of-date device that cannot link to essential databases or none at all. |
| She told them: "It is soon going to be possible to connect a range of the most popular mobile devices to national policing systems, and without compromising security. This will mean that officers will be able to use an iPhone, for instance, to get on to the police national computer to check criminal and other records, which will increase their efficiency very considerably." | She told them: "It is soon going to be possible to connect a range of the most popular mobile devices to national policing systems, and without compromising security. This will mean that officers will be able to use an iPhone, for instance, to get on to the police national computer to check criminal and other records, which will increase their efficiency very considerably." |
| She added that a £50m-a-year police innovation fund is to be available from next year to implement new approaches to the problem. | She added that a £50m-a-year police innovation fund is to be available from next year to implement new approaches to the problem. |
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