HC Deb 04 July 1972 vol 840 cc114-5W
Mr. Stallard

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the duties of the Special Patrol Group of the Metropolitan Police; and what is the annual estimated cost of this group.

Mr. Carlisle

The group is used as a mobile reserve and also to supplement divisional resources of manpower in areas where there is a high incidence of crime. The estimated annual cost is £870,000.

Mr. Stallard

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is retained on file after unsuccessful searches by the Special Patrol Group of the Metropolitan Police of individuals or houses.

Mr. Carlisle

Records are kept of persons stopped in the street and of houses searched under warrant. Where premises are searched with the occupier's consent the information is recorded in an officer's pocket book.

Mr. Stallard

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, from 8th May, 1972, to 28th May, 1972, how many people were stopped in the street on suspicion of being in possession of drugs, in the West Kentish Town area, and searched by the Special Patrol Group; how many charges have been made as a result of these searches; how many houses have been searched; and how many people have been searched as a result of these house searches.

Mr. Carlisle

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that in the Kentish Town sub-division 33 persons were stopped in the street between 8th May and 25th May, 1972, by the Special Patrol Group. By 28thJune it had been decided to prosecute 16 persons. One search was made of premises with the consent of the occupier but no persons in the house at the time were searched.