Derry pilot to make stop-and-search more transparent underway

Derry police commander Nigel Goddard said the project aimed at scrutinising the use of the Terrorism Act 2000 and Justice & Security (NI) Act 2007 is now underway.

“We have started the better scrutiny and review of how we use stop-and-search. Initially we started with a group of internal experts and having a panel which consisted of some of our senior officers in the team and the local district support team who are kind of specialists in that area, viewing body-worn video of stop-and-search that had taken place.

"From that, internally, we managed to find some improvements and small nuanced things that we could do better. The leap forward that we did was we've now got some Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) members, independent members primarily, who have volunteered to come on and do some external scrutiny of that.

"That's really where I wanted to get to in that whole area of independent scrutiny panels, taking it from the England, Wales and Scotland experience. It is more about having community members reviewing your work,” said the police commander.

The initiative has been taken to build ‘police legitimacy’ in a district where the use of anti-terror stop-and-search powers has been higher than anywhere else.

Last year there were 2,251 stop-and-searches and 145 arrests in Derry and Strabane – an arrest rate of six per cent.

Although there were significantly more (6,627) instances of stop-and-search in Belfast large numbers of these (4,796) and (898) were under the Misuse of Drugs Act and and Police and Criminal Evidence Order respectively.

The use of TACT2000 and JSA2007 was disproportionately high in Derry/Strabane with 869 bookings in 2022 compared to 965 in Belfast.

Back in December Ch/Supt. Goddard told the ‘Journal’ he intended introducing the new scrutiny pilot in Derry. The first panel meetings have now taken place.

“The first one was in February. We held one in March where we had an independent PCSP member join the team reviewing the stops-and-searches. We've got their input and feedback which has largely been positive.

"One of the ideas for doing it is for PCSP members, independent people, to actually have a look and bust some of the myths and maybe the narratives that come out about it being oppressive and how it is done.

"They've also been able to give us some feedback about how it might be perceived by a lay person. How it looked like and how you might have felt yourself if it happened to you. It's early days. Positive start. Keen to push on with it,” he said.

Whilst pleased to have made progress on the new scrutiny initiative Ch/Supt. Goddard is insistent that the use of TACT2000 and JSA2007 will continue.

“It's proportionate. Unfortunately in this area it is needed. We have unfortunately the most active dissident republican terrorist groups trying to inflict harm here, frustratingly, because I wish we didn't need it but, frustratingly, I feel it is a power that we need to retain at this point in time.

"I guess if we are going to use it we need to be as open and transparent about how we use it and demonstrate that to people.”

Nigel Goddard says Derry officers have upped security after ‘shocking and horrific’ attack on John Caldwell