Police will have greater powers to prevent knife crime and tackle serious violence
Police will have greater powers to prevent knife crime and tackle serious violence as the Home Secretary permanently lifts restrictions on their use of stop and search in areas where they anticipate serious violence to happen.
In a letter sent to police forces today (Monday 16 May), the Home Secretary will remove restrictions on section 60 that have been in place since 2014. These restrictions have limited when officers could use the vital power and decreased their confidence in deploying it.
Removing these restrictions means that more officers can authorise section 60, the powers can be in place for longer and can be used when police anticipate that serious violence ‘may’ occur rather than ‘will’ occur.
This will give officers full operational flexibility and the confidence they need to use the tool, helping rid the streets of dangerous weapons and save lives.
The move coincides with the launch of Operation Sceptre - a week of intensive action from every police force in England and Wales to combat knife crime up and down the country.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said:
Since 2019, stop and search use has increased by around 85% and has contributed to over 50,000 deadly knives and offensive weapons being taken off our streets.
The government has further signalled its commitment to support police forces to use stop and search powers today by launching a consultation to make it easier for officers to search known knife carriers.
This follows the introduction of Serious Violence Reduction Orders under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act passed last month which will give the police the power to stop and search adults who have previously been convicted for knife or other offensive weapon crimes.
These measures are intended to help further drive down knife crime after recent statistics have indicated there has been a 4% decrease in stabbings in the year to December 2021.
From March 2019 until now, under this government, stabbings have fallen around 10%.
Permanently relaxing the conditions maintains forces’ use of section 60 in line with the original legislative position laid out in the 1994 Act and means:
The government will be working with policing partners to provide strong guidance to forces on ensuring transparent communication with communities when section 60 will be used to help build community trust and confidence, noting that in some instances this might not be possible due to operational tactics.
The Home Office has already asked the College of Policing to update its stop and search guidance to ensure its fair and proportionate use. The updated guidance was published in July 2020 and provides best practice examples for forces to use on community engagement and scrutiny.