The reduction in the use of stop-and-search police powers is a victory for the “politically correct brigade” who have hamstrung the ability of officers to fight crime, a senior police leader has claimed.
John Tully, the head of the body representing rank-and-file officers within the Metropolitan Police, cited changes in use of the tactic as one of the reasons he has become disillusioned with the job of policing after nearly 30 years.
“It’s ridiculous the way the politically correct brigade have changed things,” Mr Tully told the Police Oracle website after announcing that he would be stepping down from his post this year. “We can’t police as we should. We’re fighting crime with our hands tied behind our backs.”
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The 1999 report into the Stephen Lawrence murder accused the force of institutional racism, in part due to its use of stop-and-search powers which disproportionately targeted the black community.
The Met overhauled the way that it carried out the tactic in 2012 to make it “more effective and fair”.
