Super-complaint calls for repealing of 'damaging' Section 60 stop and search

Video report by ITV London Correspondent Ria Chatterjee

The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) has made a super-complaint calling for the repealing of Section 60 stop and search legislation.

Section 60, which permits stop and search to take place in a certain area for a period of time, is "damaging trust and confidence in policing", according to the CJA.

Only designated consumer bodies are permitted to make super-complaints to the government.

In London there were 11,412 searches under Section 60 by the Metropolitan Police in the year ending March 2020, government data shows.

A total of 530 people arrested following these searches, which is an arrest rate of 4.6%. This is compared to an arrest rate of 12.3% for other forms of stop and search (PACE and associated legislation).

Black people were eight times more likely to be stopped and searched under Section 60 than white people, research found.

Under other forms of stop and search, black people are four times more likely to be searched, meaning section 60 was found to be twice as disproportionate.

Leroy Logan, former superintendent at the Metropolitan Police and former chair of the National Black Police Association, said: “Some police forces have shown they are incapable of objectively self-controlling their use of section 60. Previous checks and balances have been eroded, leading to a lack of rigour and accountability.

"The draconian nature of its use reminds me of policing in the 1960s and 70s, a sus law on steroids. It traumatises young people and leads to heavy racial profiling.

"It is also ineffective in dealing with the causes of crime, and I have always maintained that police powers should be lost if they don’t prevent or reduce crime. It is now time for the government to repeal section 60.”