PM says stop and search 'valuable' for reducing knife crime after commissioner brands it 'intrusive'
Boris Johnson said stop and search remains an "extremely valuable" tool for policing after the tactic was branded "intrusive" by a crime commissioner.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster questioned the effectiveness of stop and search and warned it was damaging confidence in policing among black and Asian people.
In his new crime plan the Labour politician pledged to increase the rate of "positive outcomes" and to reduce "ethnic disproportionality" in how the powers are used.
His comments were addressed by Mr Johnson in PMQs, after Dudley South MP Mike Wood called for stop and search to remain "an important part of keeping streets and communities safe".
The Prime Minister said: "We need to make sure that stop and search is part of the armoury of police options when it comes to stopping knife crime.
"When it's done sensitively and in accordance with the law I believe it can be extremely valuable."
Meanwhile Nicola Richards, Conservative MP for West Bromwich East, said the PCC's comments were "a far cry" from the zero tolerance message on crime the public needed to hear.
In a letter to Mr Foster, she said she was disappointed to see him describe the use of stop and search as “intrusive”.
She accused him of "undermining" police officers and warned he risked "the progress that has been made to make our town safer".
She wrote: "A message must be sent to everyone who feels it is acceptable to carry weapons and drugs with them in public that we will not stand for it.
"Your latest public statements are a far cry from the zero-tolerance message my constituents and I expect your office to be conveying.
"Clearly, there is a demonstrable need to empower officers to use stop and search where appropriate, rather than undermine these powers."
Mr Foster said there were no plans to scale back the use of stop and search and that his proposals were aimed at making its use "more efficient and effective, with the intention of removing more dangerous weapons from our streets".
He added: "Of course stop and search is intrusive, if it wasn’t then no hidden weapons would be found."
He said government cuts to police numbers in the West Midlands had "undermined the hard work of our police officers" and left people in the West Midlands "less safe and secure".
"The force is due to receive 1,200 back over the coming years, leaving West Midlands Police with over 1,000 missing officers," he added.
"I call on the MP for West Bromwich East to join me in demanding that her government return our 1,000 missing officers and in my fight for fair funding for West Midlands Police."
