Bolton: Police stop-and-search powers to permanently increase

Sweeping police powers, allowing officers to search people “without suspicion”, are set to permanently increase in Bolton after concerns about knife crime.

This comes after Home Secretary Priti Patel wrote to police forces across the country on Monday saying that restrictions placed on such powers will be lifted in areas where they anticipate violence.

In Bolton the powers have already been lifted temporarily several times in recent months.

Cllr Mudasir Dean, Bolton Council cabinet member for stronger communities, said: “We get a lot of concern from residents, especially in certain wards, saying that there’s been an increase in worries about knife crime and the figures we get are showing that as well.

“There’s no doubt that residents are concerned about this, and it will be interesting to see how police use these new powers and to see how many people are detailed and how many weapons are taken off the streets.”

Stop-and-search has long been a controversial technique

The new powers will allow police to invoke Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act much more easily and for longer periods.

The orders give them the power to search people even without reasonable grounds in an area when they expect serious violence.

The period a Section 60 order can be extended to is now 48 hours, whereas it was previously limited to 39 hours while the rank at which officers can authorise the deployment of stop and search has been lowered from senior officer to inspector, while a superintendent can now extend the authorisation.

But stop-and-search has long been a controversial technique with critics like campaign group StopWatch arguing that they disproportionately target ethnic minority and lower income groups.

The powers were most recently authorised in Bolton temporarily on April 26 when officers received “intelligence from the community” on school children planning fights with weapons in public parks.

Cllrs Mudasir Dean and Martyn Cox meeting Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson last year

Bolton has seen several cases of fatal stabbings over recent years with schoolboy Reece Tansey and 25-year-old Tyrone Williamson amongst the most high-profile victims.

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Cllr Dean said: “There are unfortunately parts of Greater Manchester where carrying knives has become quite common so it will be interesting to see how these powers can change that.”