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Police have been accused of misusing their powers as the number of people stopped under anti-terror laws trebled last year. Nearly nine out of ten stop and searches in England and Wales in 2007/08 where carried out by the Metropolitan Police force. 73 arrested for terror offence Only one per cent of 125,000 people stopped led to an arrest, 1,271. Just 73 people, six in 10,000 stopped has led to an arrest for a terror offence.
"Power misused" - blacks eight times more likely to be stopped
Civil rights group Liberty called the three fold rise as "a clear signal these powers are being misused." There were also fears the disproportionate number of non-whites stopped by police could spark race riots like Brixton in 1981. Black people are now eight times more likely to be stopped than white people, up from seven the year before. Asians are twice as likely to be stopped than whites. Human rights lawyers called it a "worrying trend" that was "going in the direction" of the Brixton riots. They suggest the powers are being used disproportionately and called for an urgent review. The Home Office said: "It is important that the police have the right powers available to keep our communities safe". The Anti-terror act The Anti-Terrorism Act, or Section 44, gives the police powers in specific areas, in this case London, to stop and search people without the reasonable need to suspect them of being involved in terrorism. In 2004, a report from the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) said the power "trampled on the basic human rights of too many Londoners". Officers are advised to use the power sparingly but the laws are being enforced in situations that never warranted them like demonstrations and the anti-Heathrow expansion protests where people were stopped under section 44.
Frivolous stops and searches
Police have also been accused of using the anti-terror powers "frivolously." Last year a Conservative MP was stopped and searched under terror laws after taking pictures of a cycle path and after he showed the cops his House of Parliament ID card. A professional photographer working for a local development company was taking pictures of the Elephant & Castle area when he was stopped, searched, arrested, tossed in a cell for five hours and had his DNA taken. Officers found a Stanley knife used for sharpening pencils - the man proceeded to show them hundreds of photos he took for his research. The officer said "you could still be a terrorist." A Peckham historian was stopped under anti-terror laws – for taking photos of a bench. Police - "limited complaints"
The Met insist that the powers were being used appropriately.
Commander and the MPS Lead for Stop and Search Simon Bray said: "The feedback, the very limited complaints and the public reaction to the way we go about using this power shows that we're not misusing it overall or in specific cases. "We recognise the sensitivities but remember it is a really important method of deterring and preventing terrorism."
London and terror
London has always been the number one target for terrorists in the UK - but not all plots, home grown or otherwise, have been fostered in the capital. The 7/7 bombers came from Leeds, West Yorkshire, Buckinghamshire. The fertiliser bomb plot was conspired in London and West Sussex; cells from Luton have also been disrupted. The Forest Gate fiasco, when two brothers had their house raided by anti-terror police saw an innocent man shot and received £60,000 compensation in a near £5 million operation. The alleged transatlantic bomb plot came from in and around London.
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