Author Description

It was not necessary in this Report to revisit two issues - namely the PSNI's response to outstanding recommendations and the safeguards underpinning the use of JSA powers. The reporting period for the review remains 1st August to 31st July and this should be changed to one based on the calendar year. The security situation remains at SEVERE. An analysis of the operation of the powers in practice indicates some interesting trends. In particular, the overall number of stops and searches under all legislation has fallen again (although, within that, the use of some powers has increased). The most striking statistic was that the use of the power to stop and search without reasonable suspicion under section 24/Schedule 3 fell by 14% following a fall of 34% in the previous reporting period. The PSNI will be addressing this issue in its training. The PSNI are taking forward a pilot scheme for the community monitoring of the use of JSA powers in response to requests from a number of bodies. It is called the Equality Monitoring Stop and Search Project (EMSS) and it began in Derry and Strabane on 1st December 2015 and will run for 3 months. There are some miscellaneous matters covered in this report namely how the PSNI have responded to outstanding recommendations; the impact of PSNI restructuring on the exercise of JSA powers (none but the opportunity should be taken to use the new structures to monitor and co - ordinate the more effective use of those powers); and recent developments in relation to road closures and land requisition