Thu, 22 Feb 2007
The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) just published the draft of a
report titled
Counter-Terrorism: The London
Debate. It is 73 pages long and I've only had
time to have a very quick browse through it, but as articles are
appearing commenting on it, a link to the document may be helpful to
others.
Here are the top three recommendations:
[...]
In response to these findings, the Metropolitan Police Authority makes
the following recommendations for the Metropolitan Police Service, and
offers the advice which follows to other bodies. For ease of reference,
the items on these lists appear here in decreasing order of priority,
rather than in the thematic order in which they appear later in this
report.
Complete
list of Recommendations and Advice
Recommendations
for the Metropolitan Police Service:
1. Metropolitan Police
Service: Present an urgent review of the use of Section 44
Terrorism Act 2000 stop and search to the full Metropolitan Police
Authority. Include in this review a clear rationale explaining why a
given individual is stopped and searched rather than another. If unable
to demonstrate to the Metropolitan Police Authority’s satisfaction
through this review that the power is sufficiently effective in
countering terrorism to outweigh the damage it does to community
relations, stop using it, other than in exceptional circumstances, such
as where there is a specific threat to a particular location.
2. Metropolitan Police
Service: Publish an explanation of Operation Kratos (the
generic title for a series of Metropolitan Police Service standard
operating procedures and tactical responses to the threat posed by
suicide terrorism), setting out clearly the learning that has
taken place since 22 July 2005.
3. Metropolitan Police
Service: Accept and apply to current counter-terrorist
activity the learning from previous terrorist campaigns.
[...]
The top recommendation is very good news. The abuse of Stop and Search
under Section
44 is an issue I raised with the MPA when I went to
ask
a question and when I
met
its Chair of the Stop & Search Scrutiny Board.