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| Stop and search powers to be reviewed | Stop and search powers to be reviewed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police stop and search powers are to be overhauled with a revised code of conduct, the home secretary has said. | |
| Theresa May said while stop and search was an important police power, when misused it could be "counterproductive" and an "enormous waste of police time". | |
| She said the number of stop and searches should fall. If it did not, Mrs May said she would introduce legislation to enforce new measures. | |
| An inquiry found that a quarter of stop and searches may have been illegal. | |
| The probe by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary also found that more than half of all police forces in England and Wales were ignoring some rules on stop and search. | |
| 'Reasonable grounds' | |
| The home secretary has written to forces in England and Wales informing them of the revamped code, which she said would clarify what constituted "reasonable grounds" for police suspicion. | |
| Where officers were found not to be "using their powers properly", they could face disciplinary action. | |
| Labour said the changes to stop and search guidelines did not go far enough. | |
| Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Mrs May had wanted a much tougher rewriting of the guidelines but this had been blocked. | |
| "We need to know why the home secretary has backed down," Ms Cooper said. | |
| "Her advisers have blamed regressive attitudes in Number 10. But why has she listened to them because she was right and they were wrong. These proposals are too weak and the home secretary has given in." |