Stop and search is a step down the road........

Crowd watches death stabbing”, was the depressing headline and it seems that every week brings a new escalation in violent crime. Labour’s attractive Leader, Catherine West has regular meetings with the Borough Commander and has expressed concern about knife crime in particular.
Following the recent spate of stabbings the Police are asking for more power to stop and search .I was asked to comment as a member of the Conservative Party . I’m more used to people avoiding my opinions than actually asking for them, but to the Journalist’s surprise I gave an immediate response. It was “No!” and this is why .
. I have no inside knowledge, but I suspect Mz. West’s chats with the Borough Commander go something like this. She will say crime is getting out of control. He will reply “Now now my dear, my statistics show that crime is going down, thanks to my wonderful men .Thank you for your continued support and we’ll do a bit of liasing to calm the old dears down.“That is the M.O. and it continues for two reasons .One ;The Council have no authority here and, two; the Police produce the figures.
Recently there has been a long overdue call for compiling statistics to be taken out of the Constabularies` hands .Surveys asking people if they have suffered crime ,, when.. how often.... produce wildly different results from those emanating from the Met in particular. The Conservative Party have a raft of proposals to devolve real powers to local Councils, but right now its business as usual .
So, “Borough Commander”, I put it to you that you keep changing your story . When you are criticised, crime is falling .When you want new powers,crime is rising .Moreover, I put it to you that headlines are not a basis for new powers and you know it. I suggest to you, that your figures are unreliable and you are effectively unaccountable. I ask the jury to conclude that you need less power not more.
We need officers who are answerable to local representatives with independent evidence on the table .Only then can we tackle the spectre of fear that haunts the streets of Islington . Valston Murraiane`s tragic death could have been prevented but not by "stop and search" . We,the residents of Islington, need powers to stop and the search the police for possession of an ineffective deployment of ample existing powers and personnel. They look pretty damn suspicious to me.