Police to be given more freedom to stop and search

Police are to be given greater freedom to stop and search suspects in the street under plans to cut knife crime being considered by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, media reports said on Wednesday.

The BBC and Sky News said Smith would announce within days that police would no longer have to complete a lengthy form each time they stopped and questioned a suspect.

A Home Office spokesman could not immediately confirm the reports.

Under present rules, police must get permission from a senior officer before a stop and search and then fill out the required paperwork.

The current regulations were introduced to counter concerns that officers were targeting Asian and black youths.

But Conservative Leader David Cameron, unveiling similar proposals, said police were no longer racist and needed more freedom to tackle violent crime.

"Stop and search rules were put in place to protect young black and Asian British kids," Cameron told the Sun newspaper.

"Now it's the young black and British Asian kids that are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them.

"Today, every time they stop someone they have to fill in a form a foot long which takes seven minutes."

The government is under pressure to tackle high levels of violent youth crime, particularly in inner city regions.

Last year 27 teenagers in London died after stabbing or shooting attacks, many linked to gang culture. At least 16 were from black or Asian backgrounds.

The changes to police procedure come after a review by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Ronnie Flanagan of police red tape.

In an interim report last September, Flanagan called for the bureaucracy around stop and search to be significantly reduced.

Smith said in November she was committed to implementing Flanagan's recommendations.

Flanagan's final report will be published soon, the Home Office spokesman said.