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Alienated generation
• RECENT figures published about the extent of Islington police’s stop-and-search of children reflect “the tip of the iceberg” of discriminatory practices on the most vulnerable members of our society.
Stop-and-search is meant to be a tool of last resort. It is the most powerful tool available to police; invasive and corrosive, it can leave one traumatised for decades.
It is false for Chief Superintendent Mike Wise to claim that the 250 per cent increase in stop-and-search since 2004 is based on intelligence-led operations.
As a Bunhill resident, I sit on the board of London Crimestoppers. I am the chair of Trident (tackling London-wide gun and violent crime) and a trustee of the Children’s Society and I cannot support this agenda.
How can 180 stop-and-searches per week of those aged under 18 in Islington ever be justified? Where is “the reasonable grounds for suspicion’’. How is it that we can ignore the civil rights of children? This is unlawful and a complete failure in operational delivery.
Chief Supt Wise claims to have the support of the community. He does not. It’s the sort of response that will continue to leave Islington police at the bottom of London’s public confidence league (Police promise crime blitz to win over public, October 16).
In some of these cases police are wrongly using terror powers (section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000) to search children under the age of 10. This is a costly exercise in public relations and one which cannot be sustained.
It is wrong that the police have been allowed to act with impunity because of the apparent accepted negative attitudes towards children and young people. In this respect, we are all culpable; our rate of incarceration of young people is already one of the highest in Europe and our age of criminal responsibility (at 10) is one of the lowest.
Instead of preventing knife crime, we are alienating a whole generation of children and young people who are otherwise innocently going about their daily business. To tackle the minority of offenders, there is more to be gained from working with communities and young people than adopting this confrontational approach.
The vast majority of children and young people are law abiding. They deserve a better childhood and as adults we have a duty to protect them.
Claudia Webbe
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