Lambeth and Section 60 stop and search orders

[lang rabbie]

We've been Section 60d again

Almost all of Lambeth is now under a Section 60 stop and search order until 4am on Tuesday, 5th September 2023

Lambeth police have announced that almost the entire borough has been placed under a Section 60 order from 1pm today (Mon 4th September) through to 4am tomorrow, Tues 5th September. The map tweeted…

www.brixtonbuzz.com

Presumably in response to the fatal stabbing of a young man earlier today in Angell Town?

Man in his 20s stabbed to death in broad daylight on Brixton's Angell Town estate

A man in his early 20s has been stabbed to death in Brixton.

www.lbc.co.uk

 

[editor]

Presumably in response to the fatal stabbing of a young man earlier today in Angell Town?

Man in his 20s stabbed to death in broad daylight on Brixton's Angell Town estate

A man in his early 20s has been stabbed to death in Brixton.

www.lbc.co.uk

Shocking and depressing in equal measure.

 

[Gramsci]

Isn't this a bit over the top? Section 60 is not meant to be used in this blanket way. So I thought.



And no reason given in police twitter for this.

Can anyone else see if Met have given a justification for this?

 

[Gramsci]

The guidelines for Section 60 police put up on twitter says this,

So if there is trouble in particular area police can section 60 group of streets.

Doing large area of borough is imo misusing this power the Met have.

When a Section 60 is agreed it is limited to a specific area or group of streets.

 

[Gramsci]

 

[nagapie]

The guidelines for Section 60 police put up on twitter says this,

So if there is trouble in particular area police can section 60 group of streets.

Doing the whole borough is imo misusing this power the Met have.

Agreed. Putting the entire borough under Section 60 is unnecessary and inflammatory.

This does not take away the awfulness of this incident. I left Angell Town myself at 3.50 today and feel for the young people who were out and about enjoying the last of their school and college/uni holidays.

 

[Gramsci]

Briefing by Liberty on Section 60. ( a few pages with a lot of detail / evidence. So good to read as will not take long)

And from Criminal Justice Alliance this:

CJA Statement: Home office evaluation confirms serious flaws in Section 60 stop and search powers | %

The Criminal Justice Alliance responds to the Home Office evaluation surrounding Section 60 suspicion-less stop and search

www.criminaljusticealliance.org

Both want Section 60 repealed.

Reasons are those Ive put on Brixton thread. Will move some over to here as the information / evidence useful

Section 60 does not reduce violent crime and the harm it does in reducing trust in police outweighs any advantage.

Looks to me that this government is ploughing ahead giving police these powers with little in way of genuine consultation or the powers being evidenced based.

Leaves it up to back bench MPs and Lords to criticise Section 60

Which include Lord Paddick and surprise surprise Theresa May.

So if anyone thinks being critical of this is loony lefty giving succour to scumbags then think again.

 

[Gramsci]

Here is short video by Guardian of why Stop and Search is controversial in Black community. In light of BLM new interest in topics like this came about.

It covers what Ive been posting. Disproportionately used against Black people/ not evidence based yet still used

Need to click on watch on youtube due to content.

Features young black people talking about Stop and Searc

 

[Gramsci]

The Casey report has section on stop and search. Page 322 conclusion says:

Stop and search is currently deployed by the Met at the cost of legitimacy, trust and, therefore consent. To date, the Met has been unable to explain clearly enough why its use is justified on the scale it uses it, and in the manner and way it is carried out, particularly on Black Londoners. It has damaged trust. If the Met is unable to explain and justify its disproportionate use and the impacts of these, then it needs a fundamental reset.

The several pages in report on this lead to conclusion that harm done by stop and search is not outweighed by any decrease in serious crime .

It causes significant lack of trust in police by younger black people.

In short Id say , after reading this section of report,it's an example of how institutionalised racism operates

The section 60 is most extreme version of stop and search as no reason has to be given.

Its use in this case of murder is of course aimed at one section of Lambeth population. Middle aged white men aren't going to be affected. If they were then response to it might be different.

It's not , looking at the evidence, going to catch the murderer.

Casey report is talking about regular stop and search and Section 60 suspicionless stop and search

 

[Gramsci]

Page 317 of Casey report

Enough evidence and analysis
exists to confidently label stop and search as a racialised tool

 

[Gramsci]

Page 318 of report quotes this research on Section 60,

. When we looked separately at S.60
searches, it did not appear that a sudden surge in use had any effect on the
underlying trend in nondomestic violent crime.

So section 60 isn't going to lead to reduction in violent crime

 

[Gramsci]

Unless one is going to dismiss the Casey report as just objecting to the police for the sake of it the evidence is that Section 60 does not reduce violent crime.

Also stop and search causes more resentment and mistrust of police than any gain in reducing violent crime.

Casey report took a lot of research and interviews with individuals. It's a thorough report.

It's basis is policing by consent. Which isn't really happening.

It's other basis is that canteen culture in Met is alive and well whatever the higher ups in Met say

The people in London who are at the sharp end of policing is black community and the less well off.

This might be unpalatable reading for some who think police should just be allowed to get on with job without people whinging about them. As though any criticism of Mets culture or use of its powers is siding with murderers and violent criminals

Possibly mistake Casey has made is that there are a lot of people who aren't that bothered if police give minority/ BAME groups a hard time.

 

[Gramsci]

(old) briefing by Bindmans ( lawyers) on Section 60

Section 60 Stop and Search: a disproportionate and ineffective policing tool

We discuss what the section 60 stop and search means, why the requirement of reasonable suspicion is important and why the government chose to expand this power

www.bindmans.com

Good as short history of stop and search and how its changed.

SUS - the old police power led to confrontation with black community. Contributed to 81 riot / uprising.

The replacement PACE meant that suspicion had to be genuine. Safeguards were in place.

Section 60 is a retrograde step.

So why is it being used. Bindman view is that:

it’s obvious that the Government are focussing their attention on ill-considered reactive measures rather than protective policies that address the causes of violent crime. And the reason for this is simple. The Government have to be seen to be doing something to address knife crime and they need to be seen to be doing it now

Re-investment into communities, education and mental health services takes time and it costs money. Authorising section 60 is swift and costs nothing.

 

[GarveyLives]

Inconvenient for many?:

"A pilot scheme that allows police to stop and search people without having any grounds for suspicion does not work to reduce serious violence and disproportionately targets people of colour, a report has concluded."

"Section 60 search powers, under which police officers can stop and search a person without reasonable suspicion, are particularly ineffective, the thinktank said, with an overall arrest rate of 0.5% for offensive weapons between 2001 and 2021."

England stop and search pilot scheme does not cut violence, thinktank finds