British police are planning to use the anti-terror measures recently banded illegal by the European Court for Human Rights to stop and search people during the 2012 London Olympics, drawing immediate rebuke from rights groups.
"We are planning on the assumption that there will be a severe threat to the UK during the Games, on the basis that we can then scale down rather than quickly scale up," Steve Thomas, the Olympic National Transport Security Coordinator for the Home Office, told The Times on Monday, February 8.
Thomas said police are considering applying Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, under which they could stop and search members of the public without any suspicion, nationwide.
"If there is a severe level of threat we will be looking to use Section 44 at every underground and railway station."
This would be the first time that the powers would have been used across such a wide area, according to the British daily.
It added that police officers are being trained to use behavioral profiling to spot suspicious characters during stop-and-search operations.
London will host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August 2012.
The major event will feature 26 sports and a total of 38 disciplines.
Over 3500 athletes will participate in London Olympics, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans.
Rebuke
The plan drew immediate criticism from privacy and civil liberty groups which warned the move could increase tensions between the public and police.
"It would be incredibly dangerous to build Olympic security on such a legally flawed foundation," Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, told The Times.
Last month the use of the stop and search procedure was ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.
The Court said it violates individual freedoms guaranteeing the right to private life.
The British government was also ordered to pay £30,400 in costs for Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton who brought the case to the court after being stopped by police outside an arms fair in London in September 2003.
"The history of stop and search in this country is abhorrent," Simon Davies, the Director of Privacy International, told The Times.
"I wouldn’t trust the police to make the right judgment."
He warned the use of the controversial procedure during the Olympics would prejudice religious and ethnic minorities expected to be the main target.
"It is well known that stop-and- search powers have created extraordinary tensions among a range of ethnic groups," he stressed.
"There’s no doubt that extension of the use of those powers would exacerbate those tensions."
"We are planning on the assumption that there will be a severe threat to the UK during the Games, on the basis that we can then scale down rather than quickly scale up," Steve Thomas, the Olympic National Transport Security Coordinator for the Home Office, told The Times on Monday, February 8.
Thomas said police are considering applying Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, under which they could stop and search members of the public without any suspicion, nationwide.
"If there is a severe level of threat we will be looking to use Section 44 at every underground and railway station."
This would be the first time that the powers would have been used across such a wide area, according to the British daily.
It added that police officers are being trained to use behavioral profiling to spot suspicious characters during stop-and-search operations.
London will host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August 2012.
The major event will feature 26 sports and a total of 38 disciplines.
Over 3500 athletes will participate in London Olympics, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans.
Rebuke
The plan drew immediate criticism from privacy and civil liberty groups which warned the move could increase tensions between the public and police.
"It would be incredibly dangerous to build Olympic security on such a legally flawed foundation," Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, told The Times.
Last month the use of the stop and search procedure was ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.
The Court said it violates individual freedoms guaranteeing the right to private life.
The British government was also ordered to pay £30,400 in costs for Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton who brought the case to the court after being stopped by police outside an arms fair in London in September 2003.
"The history of stop and search in this country is abhorrent," Simon Davies, the Director of Privacy International, told The Times.
"I wouldn’t trust the police to make the right judgment."
He warned the use of the controversial procedure during the Olympics would prejudice religious and ethnic minorities expected to be the main target.
"It is well known that stop-and- search powers have created extraordinary tensions among a range of ethnic groups," he stressed.
"There’s no doubt that extension of the use of those powers would exacerbate those tensions."
