HUHNE PRAISES HAMPSHIRE POLICE DECISION TO SUSPEND STOP AND SEARCH (Eastleigh Liberal Democrats)

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HUHNE PRAISES HAMPSHIRE POLICE DECISION TO SUSPEND STOP AND SEARCH

July 15, 2009 5:15 PM

Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne has praised Hampshire Police's decision to suspend its Terrorism Act stop and searches after figures showed it had used the procedure more than 3,400 times in 2007/8, but arrested no-one connected with terror.

Mr Huhne, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, said: "This is the right decision from Hampshire Police. It is clear from the figures that section 44 searches were not working.

"I hope that the Government follows Hampshire's lead and ensures that the use of anti-terror powers are cut back and used only for what they were intended.

"By rolling back from excessive use of stop and search, Hampshire Police should be able to reach out to the communities we most rely on for intelligence in the fight against terrorism."