more … ]]> Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell today raised concerns over the fact that over half of all British black men will soon have their information held on the DNA database.

Ming Campbell said the Government’s insistence on keeping people’s records on a DNA database when they are not charged for an offence could seriously affect community relations.

By 2010 over half of all British black men will find their information held on the database.

Menzies Campbell said:

“There is absolutely no justification for keeping the DNA record of anyone who is not charged with an offence.

“This arbitrary method of collecting DNA will alienate minority groups who already feel unjustly targeted.

“There is also a real risk that the DNA database could be misused.

“With growing concern about racial profiling and disproportionality in criminal investigations, the need to keep innocent people on the DNA database is highly questionable and could damage community relations.”

You can sign the Liberal Democrats’ petition to protect innocent people’s DNA at http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/dna

more … ]]> Research conducted by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that the police spent a total of 56 million hours filling in paperwork last year. In a keynote speech to the Police Federation, Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell said:

“The police have been turned into bureau cops.

“The police should be allowed to get on with what they do best, fighting crime and catching criminals, not wasting millions of hours on paper work each year.

“When I speak to police officers I hear again and again that officers’ time is wasted re-entering the same information on multiple forms.

“Six years ago there was a promise to cut the bureaucracy in the Home Office Report Policing a New Century: a Blueprint for Reform. But last year police officers spent a fifth of their time on paperwork. Across the entire service, it’s a staggering 56 million hours.

“There should be a proper assessment of how IT systems, voice recognition technology and hand-held equipment can free police time from form-filling. And there should be a guarantee of the funding to make it happen.

“Civilian staff should also provide greater clerical support to relieve officers from that variety of work.

“We should cut bureaucracy. And in return encourage increased police visibility.”

Menzies Campbell called for the politics to be taken out of policing. He attacked the Labour party and its succession of home secretaries for talking tough and proposing headline grabbing gimmicks rather than focusing on practical measures that will cut crime. He said that it was the police that take the blame when gimmicks fail.

He said:

“When the right to protest is restricted, for example, it’s the police who have to enforce it.

“And when individuals choose to defy unpopular laws, it’s the police who must arrest them.

“Police officers are being used to enforce bad decisions made by government. This should stop. We must take the politics out of policing.”

Commenting on Conservative plans for elected chairs for police authorities, Menzies Campbell added:

“The Conservatives have proposed elected chairs for police authorities. I do not believe that this is the right way forward. How would such elections be conducted?

“And who would stand? Would parties put forward candidates of their own? We need our police to pursue criminals, not chase votes.

“We need local accountability, yes. But a political police service, no.”

Concluding Menzies Campbell said:

“Twenty-first century police services require reform. Politicians and police can work together in order to do that.

“By giving police the powers that they need, and removing those that they don’t.

“By lighting a bonfire of centralised targets, and establishing local accountability in their place.

“By banishing bureaucracy, and increasing police presence on the beat.

“By rewarding hard work, and ensuring a mixed skill set within our forces.

“And by defining police structures on the basis of local needs. In this way, we can take the politics out of policing and ensure a healthy future for a police service that is accountable, responsive and effective.”

more … ]]> To coincide with the Police Federation conference, the Liberal Democrats today released research showing that prison overcrowding has resulted in 20,000 prisoners being held in police cells in the last year at a cost of £2.6 million per month.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell said:

“The job of our police forces is to catch criminals, not to look after them by becoming full-time gaolers.

“Police officers are already overburdened by bureaucracy and targets. This is one more thing that prevents them doing what they are paid for.

“Using police cells is a ‘quick fix’ solution which will not make the prison crisis go away.

“The UK has the worst reoffending rates in Europe, with prison acting too often as a revolving door for criminals.

“We need to make prison work by making education and work compulsory and ensuring that non-violent criminals work in their local community to make amends for their crimes.”

more … ]]> A full inquiry into the 7th July bomb attacks should be held as soon as possible, Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell said today.

Sir Menzies also questioned why the government briefed in the aftermath of the attacks that the bombers were unknown to the security service.

He was speaking after the conclusion of the fertiliser bomb plot trial at the Old Bailey and the revelation that there were links between the accused men and the 7th July bombers.

The Liberal Democrats have also put down an urgent question in Parliament, demanding that John Reid makes a statement to MPs at the earliest possible opportunity.

Menzies Campbell said:

“The information revealed in this trial will spark widespread public concern and debate about the operational capabilities of the security service, and the reliability of government information in the aftermath of the 7th July bombings.

“While the security service has a difficult role to play and cannot be expected to succeed every time, serious questions must be asked about key operational decisions.

“We must also question government briefings after 7th July which asserted that the bombers were ‘clean skins’, when we now know that this was not true.

“Those questions would be best answered if a full and independent inquiry, consisting of Privy Counsellors, were to be established as soon as possible by the Government. The precedent for this is the Butler inquiry, which examined the use of intelligence in relation to military action against Iraq.

“It is essential that the terms of reference of any inquiry are sufficiently wide to enable examination of all relevant issues and access to all necessary information.”

more … ]]> In a speech to Muslim community leaders at a Mosque in Birmingham today, Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell called for an urgent review of stop and search powers, stating that these powers are being overused and alienating minority communities.

Under the Terrorism Act 2000:

• Over 166,894 people have been stopped and searched
• Only 40 people to date have been convicted
• For every person convicted 4170 have been stopped and searched
• For every person arrested 148 have been stopped and searched

Menzies Campbell said:

“It is intelligence-led policing, not indiscriminate stop and search, that will bring success in the fight against terrorism.

“The police and security services must be unrelenting in their determination to track down those who plot terror attacks.

“Indiscriminate stop and search is alienating minority groups who often feel unjustly targeted.

“Anti-terrorism powers are meant to be exceptional powers, used occasionally and only when circumstances demand it.

“The fact that so many people have been stopped, and so few arrested, suggests that the powers are being used as part of standard policing techniques.

“A recent Home Office report states that stop and search is being overused. We now need an urgent review of the powers to ensure that it is used more sensitively and effectively rather than as part of routine policing which enflames anger amongst community groups.

“Then the police can focus on the kind of counter-terrorism operations that actually work.”

more … ]]> At the Liberal Democrat “We Can Cut Crime” rally, Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell highlighted that over 51 million crimes have been reported in this country since Labour came to power.

Ming Campbell said:

Tony Blair’s legacy on law and order is one of tough talk, and spectacular failure.

Effective criminal justice should deter crime and reform the criminal. But the reality is that Labour has failed on both counts.

Shockingly, we live in a country where less than one in every hundred crimes committed leads to a court conviction. Just one in every hundred.

And just as bad, we live in a country where eight out of ten teenage boys reoffend within two years of release.

Ming Campbell went on to say:

The Government pursues headlines with more vigour than it pursues criminals. Three thousand new criminal offences, and twenty three criminal justice acts have sought to reassure the public and to discourage the criminal.

But no criminal has ever been stopped by a headline. And our crime rates show it.

Explaining the Liberal Democrat approach to crime Ming Campbell said:

A liberal approach to crime is an honest approach to crime. It is based on what works rather than just what sounds good. It targets the offender rather than the innocent. And it has the courage to engage with the criminal and try to reform behaviour.

The Liberal Democrats can cut crime.

Menzies Campbell concluded by pointing to the successes that Liberal Democrats have had in cutting crime locally he said:

“This rally is about all of you who have campaigned throughout Britain to ensure that there are real solutions to crime delivered locally.

“It is a tribute to those of you who have campaigned to remove the blight of crime from peoples’ lives.”

During the rally, the party launched a new website to chronicle the problems of the Home Office: www.homeofficewatch.com