§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide the police with extra powers to arrest people found carrying a knife. [8364]
§ Mr. MacleanSince 4 July 1996, the police have had the power to arrest a person found carrying a knife in a public place or on school premises. For the knife-carrying problem to be tackled effectively, we believe it is essential266W that the police have adequate powers to stop and search when they have reliable information that people are carrying knives. At present, a police officer may stop and search anyone if he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that he will find stolen or prohibited articles, such as a knife. On 6 November, we announced our intention to amend the code of practice on stop and search powers, issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, to make it clear that reasonable suspicion includes intelligence that members of a group or gang habitually carry knives. We have also proposed that police powers should be extended so that they can stop and search anyone in a particular area if they reasonably believe that people are carrying knives in that area. Those powers would have to be authorised by an officer of at least inspector rank for a maximum period of 48 hours. The association of Chief Police Officers, the Police Superintendents Association and the Police Federation have all indicated that they would support the proposed new powers.