Suella Braverman has urged police to “ramp up” the use of controversial stop and search powers in a move that has been criticised as “deeply irresponsible” by human rights campaigners.
In a letter to the police chiefs of all 43 forces in England and Wales, the home secretary said officers who use the powers have her “full support”.
She said police powers should be ramped up “to prevent violence and save more lives”. Ms Braverman also singled out “young Black males” who she said are “disproportionately affected” by knife crime.
She said “we need to do everything in our power” to “crack down” on knife violence.
But critics of stop and search say it disproportionately targets Black and ethnic minority communities, and government statistics suggest Black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched compared with white people.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Ms Braverman was “chasing headlines” instead of tackling knife crime, which she said had “shot up” under Tory rule.
Campaign groups have previously warned against relaxing restrictions on stop and search powers which, they say, could compound discrimination.
Human rights group Liberty described the home secretary’s words as “deeply irresponsible”. The organisation told The Independent that increasing its use “will worsen existing divisions between police and communities at a time when public trust and confidence in the police is at a serious low”.
The campaign group added that the practice is “ineffective” at reducing knife crime and said powers should be rolled back by the government.
In her letter, Ms Braverman said: “Carrying weapons is a scourge on our society, and anyone doing so is risking their own lives as well as the lives of those around them.
“This dangerous culture must be brought to a stop.
“My first priority is to keep the public safe, and people who insist on carrying a weapon must know that there will be consequences.
“The police have my full support to ramp up the use of stop and search, wherever necessary, to prevent violence and save more lives.”
She added that she backs the police in tackling knife crime among young Black males.
“Every death from knife crime is a tragedy,” she said.
“That’s why I also back the police in tackling this blight in communities which are disproportionately affected, such as among young Black males. We need to do everything in our power to crack down on this violence.”
Ms Cooper said Ms Braverman said: “Knife crime has shot up after 13 years of the Tories, with the biggest increases in the suburbs and counties, destroying lives and devastating families.
“The decimation of neighbourhood policing, cuts to youth prevention work, lack of a proper serious violence strategy and lack of action on organised crime under the Tories has allowed knife crime to go up across all communities,” she added.
Emmanuelle Andrews, policy and campaigns manager at Liberty, said: “The home secretary’s call for ramped-up use of these ineffective and discriminatory powers is deeply irresponsible. It will worsen existing divisions between police and communities at a time when public trust and confidence in the police is at a serious low.
“Instead of encouraging greater use, the government should be rolling back police powers like stop and search.
“And we need to roll back the powers of the police so no one faces harsh and traumatising treatment at the hands of police.”
A report last year by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that the Metropolitan Police were failing to record stop and search grounds adequately.
Meanwhile, the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), said in January last year that police chiefs must overhaul their use of stop and search to address its “traumatic” and disproportionate impact on ethnic minority groups.