Police Operations (2)
Vagrancy Act 1824 (repealed legislation)
"power to act on "SUS"
"every suspected person or reputed thief,
frequenting any river,canal,or navigable
stream,dock,or basin,or any quarry,wharf,
or warehouse near or adjoining thereto,or
any street,highway,or avenue leading thereto,
any place or public resort,or any avenue
leading thereto,or any street,or any highway
or any place adjacent to a street or
highway,
with intent to commit an arrestable offence".
Police and Criminal Evidence Act
1984 (PACE) and the Criminal Justice
and Public Order Act 1994.
Stop and Search is regulated by the
above statutes.
"A police officer must have either a
reasonable suspicion or belief,that
an offence has already been committed
in order to carry out Stop and Search".
STOP and SEARCH
"new stop and quiz proposals
carry disturbing echoes of
deeply unpopular stop and
search laws that triggered
mass riots in the 1980s.
known as "SUS
(suspect under suspicion)
the law (above) allowed police
to stop,search and arrest
anyone they chose as a crime prevention tactic.
it was widely believed to have
been abused by officers to
harass young black males
(West Indian) decent.
2nd April 1980,
police raided the notorious
Black and White cafe in
St.Pauls,Bristol,sparking the
most serious riots on mainland
Britain since before the
Second World War.and after
Metropolitan Police Officers
stopped and searched 943
people,the vast majority black
(West Indian) and law abiding
arrested only 118,during their
blitz on robberies and burglaries
in the spring of 1981
trouble flared again in
Brixton,London
complaints of police
harassment toward black
males and the West Indian
Community as a whole soared,
and riots on the streets left
police vehicles and properties
burned out.
St.Pauls Bristol (1980)
Brixton London (1981)
Toxteth Liverpool (1981)
Handsworth Birmingham (1981)
Chapeltown Leeds (1981)
other areas around the UK
were sparked
the police were forced to
withdraw in (Toxteth) as
150 buildings on a one mile
stretch of road,were torched
and 781 police officers were
hurt.
The "SUS" law
was hastily abolished that
year (1980)"
Emily Miller
Daily Mirror News Paper
POLICE POWER of
STOP and SEARCH.
"was first introduced in 1984,
proving to be a controversial
issue.
Police say,it is an essential
tool in combating crime,but
the high incidence of stop and
searches among the black
(West Indian) and Asian
population,has led to charges
of police racism.
the implementation of stop and
search,was criticised in the
Macpherson report,
published after an inquiry into
the death of black teenager
Stephen Lawrence.
the report accused the
Metropolitan Police Force
of "institutional racism" and it
stressed the "countrywide"
incidences of stop and searches
among ethnic minorities,as one
of the instances in which that
was evident.
Sir William Macpherson
"whilst we acknowledge and
recognise the complexity of
this issue,there remains in our
judgement,a clear core
conclusion of racist stereotyping"
said the report
BBC News Report.