Police review 'search' power limits

London: British police are holding a review of their much-criticised "stop and search" powers over concerns that the tactic, designed to detect possible terrorists, is alienating the country's Muslim community.

Senior officers are warming to new thinking about the powers, which would see people stopped only on the basis of prior intelligence and not their appearance, according to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

"I think we need to move from the concept of stopping on appearance and ethnicity," Richard Gargini, ACPO's national coordinator for community engagement, told Reuters at a conference to discuss Islamophobia.

"I sense an atmosphere among police leaders that it's time to reflect upon where we go with stop and search. Is it having an adverse impact on police and community relations?"

Under anti-terrorism legislation passed in 2000, officers have the power to stop and search people in an area seen as at risk from terrorism even if they are not suspected of breaking the law.

Muslim groups have argued the powers have been abused by police, particularly after bomb attacks on July 7, 2005, when four British Islamists killed 52 people on London's transport system.

Figures

Figures show that use of the power against those of Asian appearance has risen sharply since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and Muslim community leaders have warned it has contributed to the alienation of Britain's Muslims and helped the cause of extremists.

"We know the levels of trust and confidence that the community has in the police has gone down," Azad Ali, chairman of the Muslim Safety Forum which advises police on Islamic issues, told Reuters.

Top officers and the government have repeatedly said the authorities need the help and support of the Islamic community if they are to defeat militants.

Gargini said senior officers, including the head of the London unit that oversees counter-terrorism, were questioning the benefits of stop and search against the damage its indiscriminate use might cause.

However, he added there was no suggestion police would abandon it altogether. He rejected suggestions that officers should simply use racial profiling to target suspects at airports, a notion raised last August after detectives said they had foiled a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners. "It can't be a blunt tool," he said.