UK government: Police forces abused anti-terror laws to illegally search thousands of Britons

UK acknowledges police abused anti-terror powers

LONDON — Police across England have abused counterterrorism powers to illegally search thousands of Britons over much of the past decade, Britain’s Home Office said Thursday.

Officials said forces across the UK, including London’s Metropolitan Police, repeatedly misused the so-called “stop and search” powers granted to them under Britain’s 2000 Terrorism Act.

The act allows officers to stop, search and demand explanations from anyone at any time in areas designated as sensitive — and it’s long been deplored by civil libertarians.

There are some restrictions imposed on the way police can use the act. For example, the power can only be invoked for a 28-day window in the designated area. And a government minister must approve the power’s use within 48 hours.

But the Home Office said that an internal review had shown those restrictions were violated 40 times between 2001 and 2008 — such as when senior police officers failed to get the proper authorization in time. In one 2004 operation, for example, Scotland Yard stopped 840 people in London, even though it lacked the proper go-ahead.

Home Office Secretary Theresa May described the violations as “historical administrative errors,” and said it was crucial that counterterrorism powers were used properly.

Lawyer Corinna Ferguson, of the London-based civil rights organization Liberty, said the group was grateful the government was bringing the abuses to light, but said the blunders highlighted the problematic nature of the practice.

Criticism of stop and search has been gaining steam over the years. Some Muslims have complained that police use the power to unfairly target minorities. A 2007 report commissioned by Scotland Yard said only about one in 10,000 searches led to a terror-related arrest, and that the activity was doing “untold damage to certain communities’ confidence in the police.”

In 2010 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the practice violates individual freedoms.

Britain’s new coalition government has pledged a review of the practice.