Metropolitan Police Stops too Many Muslims

Sir Paul Stephenson, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has held talks with a number of groups including the 'Muslim Safety Forum' and concluded that police stop-and-search powers need to be cut back.

Since the attempted bombing of London's 'Tiger Tiger' nightclub and Glasgow Airport in 2007, police have been free from the restraint of having to possess 'reasonable suspicion' before stopping and searching a member of the public in the street. This power was legally given to them in the Terrorism Act 2000, and was stepped up after the London bombings in 2005 and again in 2007.

Sir Paul says that 'blanket use' of the tactic is alienating the Muslim community and risks provoking their anger, and that his officers should be a little more discerning about how they use their powers.

The Government is upset because ethnic minorities were disproportionately targeted by the measures:

The number of black people stopped under the power rose by 322 per cent, compared with a rise of 277 per cent for Asians and 185 per cent for white people.

At the risk of being guilty of cyberhate, I will respectfully point out that the four 7/7 bombers who slaughtered 52 Londoners in 2005 consisted of three 'Asians' and a black man; I will also point out that those involved in terrorism are disproportionately Asian and almost exclusively Muslim. In any case, the areas in which officers exercise these powers, large cities, have large 'ethnic minority' populations, and that in itself would explain the skewed figures.

Sir Paul now says this power will be restricted to a cordon around sensitive government buildings and tourist attractions and elsewhere it will be used in a more 'targeted' way; but surely targeting people on the likely demographic of a terrorist will see more Asians stopped?

Of course, he could well mean 'targeting' in the sense of 'pointlessly abusing our powers searching old ladies in order to balance the figures and make the 'Muslim Safety Forum' feel better'.

What about the safety of the rest of us? Maybe if the Government didn't let all and sundry into the country in the first place, these powers wouldn't be necessary.