‘Officers need more confidence to use stop and search’

7 February 2025

The secretary of West Midlands Police Federation says officers need the confidence to use their stop and search powers to keep the public safe.

Tim Rogers said knife crime was a national problem which required a multi-pronged approach – including support for members to use Section 60.

His comments follow changes by the Force, which came into effect this week and aim to make Section 60 stop and search processes clearer and easier for members.

The changes, details of which are on the Force intranet, include an update to the Force’s Section 60 Procedural Guidance for officers, new training for senior leaders, and wider changes to training.

The have been welcomed by West Midlands Police Federation, which has been actively calling for change.

West Midlands Police Federation secretary Tim Rogers.

Tim said: “The changes mean that the authority to use stop and search powers is at the level that might make them more effective.

“Our members now need to be given the confidence and backing to use those powers reactively and in order to keep the public safe.

“Knife crime is a national problem that affects all communities and all backgrounds, and police are given these rights and powers, so they should be supported in using them to prevent serious violence and children from being killed and wounded.”

Knife crime

Tim said other measures were needed to tackle knife crime including and targeting the sale and supply of knives were needed to help tackle knife crime.

“Young knife crime offenders tend to carry those that are marketed at them,” he said. “They have descriptors attached to them like ninja, Rambo, or zombie and are still available online for as little as £10.

“Very few carry kitchen knives, which makes the argument that sale and supply does affect youth violence in particular.”

Tim said that school exclusion was often ‘a trigger point’ for young people.

“More support needs to go in at that point but one of the issues is that youth services have been decimated since 2015,” he said.

Early action

“The challenge is taking earlier action. The early identification of young people at risk of offending is key.”

And he reiterated the Federation’s call for tougher sentences for offenders to act as a deterrent.

“When people do offend, the enforcement must be swift and stringent,” he said.

“Too often we have seen dangerous juveniles bailed and free to walk the streets again after being found in possession of a knife while the youth offending teams consider what to do.

“It takes far too long and leaves other children and innocent members of the public vulnerable.

“When nothing effectively happens to them, offenders see it as a licence to reoffend and do so until they do something really serious which, in recent years, has been the only point the criminal justice system has really been involved.”

Investment

Tim said there have been successes in tackling knife crime, and called for more investment.

He said: “It’s great to see recent changes in the Force’s knife crime policy emphasising positive action and enforcement, as well as the Violence Reduction Unit partnerships, which do the identify and support bit in Coventry and Wolverhampton, for example.

“But this needs heavy expansion and investment to truly embed.”

Tim added: “There is so much more to do as the murders of Leo ross, Harvey Willgoose, Shaun Seesahai, and Ronan Kanda, to name but a tragic few, demonstrate.”