Train stabbing: Could the police have done anything to prevent it?
A knife attack by a British man left 11 people needing hospital treatment and has sparked a conversation about security on British streets – and on public transport – but are more stop and search powers really the answer?
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In brief…
- Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has called for more stop and search powers for police following a brutal knife attack on a London-bound train, blaming “the left” for criticism of the process, which has been shown to disproportionately target black communities.
- Neil Basu, former head of UK counter terrorism, tells The News Agents why neither stop and search, or more facial recognition software, would have made any difference in this instance.
- The News Agents says Philp’s calls are an example of “pushing the door” of racism, only to act shocked and surprised when anyone suggests this is the case.
What’s the story
Tory MP Chris Philp has called for more police stop and search powers in the wake of a train stabbing which left 11 people injured – but this would have done nothing to stop the incident, says Neil Basu.
The former head of UK counter terrorism, and presenter of The Crime Agents podcast, tells Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel that Philp's calls are empty "knee-jerk" reactions to a shocking act of brutality.
"Stop and search is important, but it's important that it's done well, forensically and in places where there are real issues with crime and street crime," Basu tells The News Agents.
Basu says that neither increased stop and search powers, or other suggestions such as more facial recognition technology in crime hotspots would have any major effect.
"In horrific circumstances like this, we need to avoid making policy judgments because we're highly emotional. This doesn't sound proportionate at the moment.
"It sounds like a knee-jerk response to a horrific incident, and I can understand the emotion. It's just not a very sensible way to do policy."
Peterborough station, where the suspect is believed to have boarded the train, is also not considered a crime ‘hotspot’, so even if Philp’s demands were implemented, they would have had no effect in this instance.
The incident occurred on a Saturday night train from Doncaster to London, with one member of train staff in a "critical but stable condition".
A British man, Anthony Williams, 32, from Peterborough has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder. Police have said there is "nothing to suggest" the attack is a terror incident.
Why Chris Philp is wrong to call for more stop and search
Philp made his calls in a piece for The Telegraph newspaper, blaming "the left" for criticism of stop and search powers, which has been shown to be four times more likely to be used on black men, suggesting Williams could have been stopped by officers before boarding the train at Peterborough.
He also suggested more widespread use of facial recognition software could have prevented the attack.
However, as Williams was not on police "radar" at the time of the attack, neither would have been likely to make any difference – and increasing their use of either would come at huge cost.
"To do this, you need a lot more police officers, but you also still need reasonable grounds to stop people," Basu says.
"The argument that we rapidly increase stop and search in high crime areas and we take away the reasonable grounds to suspect is a very dangerous move.
"There is a lot of history in policing of effectively winding up communities in those circumstances, because you're going to end up stopping an awful lot of very innocent people, and it is an incredibly humiliating thing to happen to you."
Basu says this from experience – having been stopped and searched numerous times throughout his life, including while serving as a police officer.
He is, however, supportive of facial recognition technology more widely, and says if he was still head of counter terrorism, would be working to install it in every port, airport and railway station across the UK.
"I understand why it feels somewhat like a big brother technology, but the technology has moved on," Basu adds.
"It's basically searching databases which are full of wanted criminals. If you get a false positive, you can be very quickly sent back on your way.
"I don't think the public would bat an eyelid about that kind of technology being deployed in places like airports."
What politicians should be advocating for
Calls for more police powers in the wake of a tragedy is an example of short-term thinking from politicians, Basu says, adding that without investing in mental health provisions and addiction services, which are often the root of crime, it would yield no solutions.
"I do feel sorry for politicians sometimes, because we've created a society in which they cannot think long term at all," Basu says.
"The answer to this is in long term prevention, and there is an awful lot of things that we have got wrong in this country for many, many years – we have got to do something about addiction, youth mental health. We've got to do something about all of those things.
"Ramping up some short-term sound-bites – 'strong law and order', 'lock people up and throw away the key' – is not going to work."
Should Philp have been more clear on what he was calling for?
When asked in a BBC interview on Monday (3 November) if the suspect could have been stopped because of the colour of his skin, Phil said he was “shocked” to hear that suggested.
Emily says Philp should have been more transparent about what he was calling for – even if he would have been perceived as racist.
"If you believe that Chris Philp, just say it out loud, and then we can actually debate it, we can look at the data, and we can see whether you might be right or you might be wrong," she says.
"What he's doing – and we see this so often – is pushing at a door to suggest something, but then running away as soon as it looks like it might be racist."