The controversial policy of stop and search is a very important form of policing but it must be used “reasonably and proportionately”, Chief Constable Sir Stephen House has told a Police Scotland conference in Fife.
Sir Stephen spoke as a national stop and search workshop at Police Scotland Fife Division in Glenrothes analysed the merits of a stop and search pilot project which has already yielded “encouraging and positive” results in Fife.
Speaking to an audience which included councillors, police officers, Scottish Police Federation representatives, anti-knife campaigners and youngsters who had been stopped and searched by police, Sir Stephen said: “It’s certainly a very useful tactic that police use. But to balance that it is a highly intrusive tactic.
“It’s one of the most intrusive things police will do. It must therefore be used reasonably and proportionately within strict scrutiny guidelines and overall must have general public support.
“Society in general must have a place for stop and search. If society in general does not have a place for stop and search then it should not be a police tactic.”
The stop and search scheme being piloted by the Fife Division of Police Scotland is being evaluated by researchers at Dundee and Edinburgh Napier universities.
Dr Megan O’Neill, from Dundee, and Napier’s Dr Liz Aston, both members of the Scottish Institute of Policing Research (SIPR), are leading a team investigating the impact of the new approach to stop and search being trialled in Fife.
The evaluation is being funded by SIPR and the Scottish Police Authority.
The use of stop and search methods has proved controversial.
While police officers claim they are a vital tool for law enforcement and crime prevention, civil liberties groups and other organisations have raised concerns that they unfairly target certain demographics.
The Fife project started in July and will last until February.
It aims to improve levels of approval among the public by better informing them of the process, the reasons why searches are being carried out, and the rights of the individual.