A huge drop in the number of Stop and Searches in Leicestershire has pleased the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Ethics, Integrity and Complaints Committee, whose members believe its use by the force is moving in the right direction.
At their meeting last Friday (18 March) the committee was also satisfied that these powers were being ethically deployed. They did, however, highlight the need to encourage people to complain if they felt that a stop and search was inappropriate as complaints were a valuable source of feedback and a means of driving improvement.
The committee heard that between 2011 and 2015, Stop and Searches had gone down from an average of 74 every day to around 5.3 every day. This reduction followed a scrutiny programme that included tackling disproportionality among black and Asian communities.
Also welcomed was the ongoing roll out of Body Worn Video Cameras, enabling more officers to record any Stop and Searches they conduct. Members said that they would like to ‘dip sample – in strict confidence – some of the videos.
The Committee also considered the emotive issue of fox hunting and looked at how the Leicestershire Force deals with membership of hunts by officers and staff. They looked in some depth at the ethical debate such membership brings in relation to the Code of Ethics and Police Regulations. The Committee recognised the right of police officers to membership of all lawful organisations under the Human Rights Act, but observed that a force might have to give more thought to public perception where an officer might have to enforce the controversial law in an area where they themselves hunted or where they held simultaneous responsibilities such as being a wildlife officer.
While the Committee was reluctant to review individual cases, it noted that this perception of a conflict did not arise in the recent case of PC Sharon Roscoe, as she was not simultaneously a member of a hunt and a wildlife officer. The committee was told that PC Roscoe had stood down from this role due to harassment and threats via social media which had caused increasing concern for her and her family. The committee strenuously deplored any intimidation via social media of a police officer who was lawfully fulfilling their duties.
The committee welcomed the efforts of Leicestershire police to engage with representatives from both sides of the issue and commended their efforts to act impartially in a difficult area of policing policy.
Background reports and more information about the Committee can be found at http://www.leics.pcc.police.uk/Our-Work/Meetings/Ethics-Integrity-and-Complaints-Committee.aspx
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Posted on Monday 9th May 2016