Meeting of the Parliament 02 April 2014
I am sorry, but I do not have time.
I am sure that we all accept that we live in a very different world from that of 50 years ago or even 20 years ago. Over the weekend, I happened to spot a picture of Willie Rennie sporting an unusual pair of glasses while touring a brewery in Ellon. It may be that those glasses were a necessary safety measure, or it may be that rose-tinted glasses were handed out at the sunshine party conference last weekend. Whatever the case may be, I cannot help but think that the Liberal Democrat view of modern policing would be better suited to the 1950s, when bobbies on the beat would stop for a chat about the weather and all citizens were law abiding and never carried knives. Indeed, one commentator yesterday said that Willie Rennie had a “Dixon of Dock Green” view of policing. Of course, that programme has not been broadcast since 1976, so perhaps he is not familiar with it.
Regrettably, we simply do not live in that kind of society. People commit crime. Sadly, people become victims every day. We need the police to be rigorous in ensuring that people are as safe as possible. The value of community policing is universally accepted, but we need to ensure that the police have the ability to protect people. I am instinctively against profiling people. In most cases, discrimination is morally dubious, if not illegal. However, we simply cannot ignore the fact that, when age and gender are taken into account, more crimes are committed by young men than by any other demographic group.
In my view, the most effective use of police resources is a focused but not target-driven approach to stop and search. The police must, and do, formulate an intelligent approach to stop and search. Clearly, if the police concentrated on searches of elderly women, a demographic group who do not commit crime, there might be cause for concern.
As for searches of children, we should bear it in mind that, in February, Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick said that when children are stopped
“it is usually for their own welfare or child protection issues, and often instigated from reports by teachers, social workers or third sector agencies.”
Stop and search is a question of balance. We need to balance individual liberties and policing by consent with the protection of the public. However, I accept that the balance is not perfect. Although stop and search may be an operational matter, proper records should be maintained. They need to be accurate and should include information about when individuals are repeatedly searched.
I acknowledge the legitimate concerns about regulation and accountability raised by the Scottish Human Rights Commission. However, let us also consider the proportionality of stop and search. Thirty seven per cent of searches undertaken to detect possession of firearms had a positive result; likewise, 37 per cent of searches to detect underage possession of alcohol had a positive result. It is somewhat wide of the mark to suggest that the searches are an indiscriminate intrusion into individuals’ personal freedom. Of course the searches are targeted; if it was otherwise, the success rate would be negligible, and I imagine that it is a bit of a misconception to say that 37 per cent of the population illegally carry firearms.