Demand for police to have stop and search powers extended to halt youth knife crime 'epidemic'
Justice Secretary Angela Constance has branded the call for tougher measures to tackle knife crime being revived as “misplaced”.
SNP ministers have been urged to expand police stop and search powers to tackle Scotland’s youth violence “epidemic” as the Justice Secretary insisted her government will “redouble our efforts” to end the crisis.
The Scottish Conservatives have pointed to 13 alleged knife attacks on teenagers over the past two months, including two fatal incidents, and called on John Swinney to abandon what the opposition party branded a "weak and reckless" approach and take decisive action before more tragedies occur.
The calls from Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay follow comments from David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, who said that existing stop and search powers are insufficient to combat knife crime.
In the last year, Police Scotland has confiscated around 900 weapons through stop and search powers, including more than 200 items from people aged 17 or younger.
Mr Findlay has claimed that the SNP’s weakening of the justice system, with more serious crimes referred to the children’s panel rather than being prosecuted in court, is failing victims.
The Tories claim this so-called “soft-touch” approach means that there are often no consequences for those who commit serious crimes, thereby removing any deterrent which is fuelling violence. During a heated exchange at last week’s First Minister's Questions, John Swinney denied this was the case.
Mr Findlay has claimed that even where cases are prosecuted, criminals aged under 25 are less likely to be jailed due to the Scottish Government’s sentencing guidelines, which the Scottish Conservatives have called to be scrapped.
He said that Mr Swinney needs to show some "common sense" and expand stop-and-search powers to give frontline officers the powers they need to protect the public.
He said: "Decisive and prompt action must be taken to stop the growing epidemic of youth violence, especially involving knives.
"Stop-and-search powers need to be extended immediately while a fundamental rethink is required of the SNP’s weak approach which fails victims and fuels violence.
"John Swinney should listen to frontline officers who know how to get this crisis under control and prevent more young lives being needlessly lost.
“Tougher stop and search powers would help police to prevent violence, protect young people and keep the public safe.
“These powers are merited because this is a matter of life or death.”
Mr Findlay added: “In the longer term, John Swinney should show some common sense by recognising that his weak approach is sending a dangerous signal to young offenders.
"Too many young criminals think they can do whatever they want without any consequences for their actions, and it is usually other young people who pay the price.”
SNP pledge to ‘redouble’ efforts
Speaking yesterday, SNP Justice Secretary Angela Constance, hit back at calls for past measures to tackle violence.
She said: “When we look at what has changed in the lives of young people, it’s really important that we don’t focus on the arguments of the past or approaches of the past that have not worked.
“Some of the rhetoric around discipline, around being tougher or we need a tougher justice system, I would suggest is misplaced.
“What families want is interventions that work. The earlier interventions made, the better.”
Amid concerns over youth and community work being cut, Ms Constance pointed to austerity of public funding from Westminster and insisted the Scottish Government was “focusing on the priorities of prevention and public protection”.
She also warned that it was important to acknowledge a change in behaviour in some young people.
Ms Constance said: “Despite the progress that has been made in the past 1 years or so to make Scotland safer, there is a change for some young people - the majority of young people are law-abiding - so we do need to redouble our efforts.
“I think the rise in violent crime amongst young people is complex. That means that there will be more than one solution.
“We did begin to see changes around 2019/20. It is important that changes in behaviour in schools and in our communities is acknowledged - that we don’t avoid that or try and bury that.”
Scottish Labour’s justice spokesperson, Pauline McNeill, said: “We need urgent action to tackle the devastating rise in youth violence but it’s clear the SNP is still in denial about the scale of this crisis and its driving causes.
SNP accused of failure to take responsibility
“Angela Constance has refused to take responsibility for her government’s role in this crisis and the devastating effects of the SNP’s cuts to youth work services.
“Cuts to youth work, the drop in police officer numbers, the pressure on our justice system, the chaos in our schools and the long waits for CAMHS have all contributed to this problem.
“We owe it to the next generation to deal with the youth violence crisis and keep young people safe – the SNP must acknowledge their mistakes and support these key services.”
The legal framework for police to carry out stop and search in Scotland states the powers should be used where lawful, necessary and proportionate.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Stop and search powers should be used where lawful, necessary and proportionate. Their use in individual cases is an operational matter for Police Scotland.
“Police do use stop and search, and it is one tool to tackle violence alongside a range of other measures such as prevention and education.”
Speaking at the Scottish Police Authority board meeting last week, Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Jo Farrell, said that “reducing violence and preventing the harm it is causing continues to be an absolute priority” for the force.
Mc Farrell stressed that stop and search was “a really valuable policing tactic to remove weapons from pockets”.
She added: “To provide a sense of stop and search, in the last year we had around 40,000 recorded stop and search incidents and about one in four has a positive return, with over 900 weapons recovered as part of that. Of those 900 weapons, over 200 were recovered from people aged 17 or under.
“We have a high compliance rate with our code of practice and we have an online dashboard around stop and search so there is accountability and transparency around the use of the tactic, and it is conducted by local officers who know their communities best.”