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Stop-and-search rethink is needed after Mark Duggan verdict, says Sadiq Khan Stop-and-search rethink is needed after Mark Duggan verdict, says Sadiq Khan
(35 minutes later)
The shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, has called for an urgent rethink of police stop-and-search powers in the wake of this week's Mark Duggan inquest verdict.The shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, has called for an urgent rethink of police stop-and-search powers in the wake of this week's Mark Duggan inquest verdict.
Khan also warned that the police will not be able to rebuild trust with Londoners while the Metropolitan police remain "stubbornly white", and described this week's announcement of their intention to buy water cannon for use on the streets of London as a sign of failure. Khan also warned that the police would not be able to rebuild trust with Londoners while the Metropolitan police remained "stubbornly white", and said the force's intention to buy water cannon for use on the streets of the capital was a sign of failure.
He described the timing of Boris Johnson's water cannon announcement as unfortunate. "I am proud of the fact that water cannon have not had to be used on the streets of mainland Britain during my lifetime – and hope it stays that way. Needing a water cannon is a sign of complete failure," said Khan. He said the timing of Boris Johnson's water cannon announcement was unfortunate. "I am proud of the fact that water cannon have not had to be used on the streets of mainland Britain during my lifetime – and hope it stays that way. Needing a water cannon is a sign of complete failure," said Khan.
His remarks come as the home secretary, Theresa May, prepares to announce her response to a six-month consultation she launched last July over the future of stop-and-search powers. She has already warned the police that their improper use of the powers can cause immense resentment and called for the 1.2m a year street searches to be scaled back, saying the resulting 3% arrest rate in some areas is "far too low for comfort". The home secretary, Theresa May, is preparing to announce her response to a six-month consultation she launched last July over the future of stop-and-search powers. She has already warned the police that improper use of the powers can cause immense resentment, and called for the searches to be scaled back, saying the 3% arrest rate in some areas is "far too low for comfort". Police in England and Wales make about 1.2m such searches a year.
But Khan, who is also the shadow minister for London, writing on the Politicshome website, on Friday said that in the wake of the anger over the Duggan "lawful killing" verdict, it was necessary to understand that there was a long way to go to build trust between the police and Londoners, particularly among those who felt they had been consistently victimised and mistreated by the Met police. Khan, who is also the shadow minister for London, said in an article for Politicshome that there was a long way to go in building trust between the police and Londoners, particularly among those who felt they had been consistently victimised and mistreated by the Met police.
Khan quoted Lady Lawrence, Stephen Lawrence's mother, saying that stop and search remained a huge problem for black Londoners and that things had moved backwards with the decisions by ministers to scrap the forms that required officers to record who they had stopped, where and on what grounds: "It means we simply don't know whether things are getting better or worse. This is a step backwards and must be reversed," he quotes Lawrence saying. Khan quoted Lady Lawrence, Stephen Lawrence's mother, as saying that stop and search remained a huge problem for black Londoners and that things had moved backwards with the decisions by ministers to scrap the forms that required officers to record whom they had stopped, where and on what grounds. "It means we simply don't know whether things are getting better or worse. This is a step backwards and must be reversed," he quoted Lawrence saying.
The shadow justice secretary said that while stop and search formed an important part of the fight against crime and terrorism, there remained a long-running concern about its disproportionate impact on certain communities. The shadow justice secretary said stop and search formed an important part of the fight against crime and terrorism, but there remained a long-running concern about its disproportionate impact on certain communities.
"Police officers must remember at all times that one badly conducted stop and search can undo years of hard work building community relations. We urgently need to revisit the workings of all stop-and-search powers with particular regard to whether the powers are proportionate to the challenges we face," said Khan."Police officers must remember at all times that one badly conducted stop and search can undo years of hard work building community relations. We urgently need to revisit the workings of all stop-and-search powers with particular regard to whether the powers are proportionate to the challenges we face," said Khan.
But he said there were also deeper concerns. He described it as "completely unacceptable" that more than half of strip searches carried out in London over the past year by the police had involved black and minority ethnic Londoners. But he said there were also deeper concerns. He said it was "completely unacceptable" that more than half of strip-searches carried out in London over the past year by the police involved black and minority ethnic Londoners.
He also voiced continuing concern about the "stubbornly white" nature of the Met, saying it remained "a huge problem" that needed to be urgently addressed. He cited figures showing there was no shortage of potential minority ethnic recruits to the Met, with 37% of all applicants to the Met in 2012 African Caribbean or Asian, yet only 10% of officers were from black or minority ethnic backgrounds. He said the retention and promotion of minority ethnic officers had been held back by a lack of central government leadership, including the scrapping of performance indicators that were driving modernisation. He also voiced continuing concern about the "stubbornly white" nature of the Met, saying it remained "a huge problem" that urgently needed to be addressed. He cited figures showing there was no shortage of potential minority ethnic recruits to the Met, with 37% of all applicants to the Met in 2012 African Caribbean or Asian, yet only 10% of officers were from black or minority ethnic backgrounds.
"We won't have the trust needed between London's police and Londoners until we have a police service that looks like and properly represents the people it protects," said Khan. He said the retention and promotion of minority ethnic officers had been held back by a lack of central government leadership, including the scrapping of performance indicators that were driving modernisation. "We won't have the trust needed between London's police and Londoners until we have a police service that looks like and properly represents the people it protects," said Khan.
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