Author: Phil

Sir Al Aynsley-Green, who has previous for being wasteful with money, has put himself on the wrong side of the debate about stopping and searching young people by saying:

There is a balance here. On the one hand for young people to feel safer by having the presence of the police – but on the other hand making sure the new powers don’t create further antagonism by increased stopping and searching.

These are very contentious and I certainly support the case for much more research on the effects of these policies on them.

You can’t argue with his point about striking a balance but to use the word contentious in the context of the police addressing our horrific teen murder rate in London is just to make a prat of yourself. Sir Al needs to get to a few London secondary schools and ask a few of the kids what their biggest worry is – other kids carrying knives silly.

It is good to hear that the judiciary are hearing the people. Hilariously named senior judge Sir Igor Judge, who is the President of the High Court Queen’s Bench Division, was quoted in the Telegraph today:

Carrying a knife or offensive weapon without reasonable excuse is a crime which is being committed far too often by far too many people. Every weapon carried about the streets, even if concealed from sight, even if not likely to be used or intended to be used, represents a threat to public safety and public order. That is because, even if carried only for bravado or carried for some misguided sense that it would be used in possible self-defense, it takes only a moment of irritation, drunkenness, anger, perceived insult, or something utterly trivial like a ‘look’, for the weapon to be produced. Then you have mayhem, and offences of the greatest possible seriousness follow, including murder, manslaughter, GBH, wounding and assault.

Offences of this kind have recently escalated. They are reaching epidemic proportions. Every knife or weapon carried in the street represents a public danger and, therefore, in the public interest, this crime must be confronted and stopped. The courts will do what they can to reduce and, so far as it is practicable, eradicate it. In our view, it is important for public confidence in the criminal justice system that the man or woman caught in possession of a knife or offensive weapon without reasonable excuse should normally be brought before the courts and prosecuted. Even if the offender does no more than carry the weapon, even when the weapon is not used to threaten or cause fear, when considering the seriousness of the offence, courts should bear in mind the harm which the weapon might foreseeably have caused.

So, the message is stark: this is a serious offence and it should be treated with the seriousness it deserves.

Welcome to our world Judge Judge.

Today Jenny Jones, one of the two Green party members of the London Assembly, is quoted by the BBC as saying:

Stop and search already disproportionately targets young people from ethnic minority communities and this aggressive approach has, in the past, had the long-term effect of alienating the young people it is seeking to protect, as well as having a damaging effect on community relations in London.

She added that she will raise her concerns at the next Metropolitan Police Authority meeting on 29th May and will ask for a report into the potential long-term consequences of reducing the safeguards in the stop and search process.

Her comments are in response to Tuesday’s announcement that the Met will use their powers under section 60 of the Public Order Act to stop and search people without the need for reasonable suspicion.

By contrast the new mayor has said:

I welcome this new initiative by the Met and I believe that Londoners will also be reassured to see the police being proactive in the fight back against the terrible scourge of knife crime.

Quite right Boris. Totally wrong Jones.