Greater powers for police to use ‘stop and search’ to tackle violent crime announced

The government is today empowering more officers to authorise enhanced stop and search powers as part of continued action to tackle knife crime.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid is also making it simpler for police to use section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. This empowers officers to stop and search anyone in a designated area without needing reasonable grounds for suspicion if serious violence is anticipated.

The changes apply to seven police forces who collectively account for over 60% of total national knife crime and will result in at least 3,000 more officers being able to authorise section 60. The changes will run for up to a year, including a review after 6 months.

The Home Secretary has lifted 2 conditions in the voluntary Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme by:

– reducing the level of authorisation required for a Section 60 from senior officer to inspector

– lowering the degree of certainty required by the authorising officer so they must reasonably believe an incident involving serious violence ‘may’, rather than ‘will’, occur