Latest news with #SirAndyMarsh
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Daily Mail
Police are AFRAID to stop and search suspected cannabis users, officers say
Police are now scared to stop and search suspects if they smell cannabis, officers revealed yesterday. Chief constables have called for those on the frontline to take a tougher line on the class B drug. But concerns were raised by Brian Booth, deputy national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales. Head of the College of Policing Sir Andy Marsh has urged officers to act when they smell cannabis on the street as it is a 'sign of crime and disorder'. He told the Mail the stench makes even him 'feel unsafe'. The call from Britain's longest-serving chief constable, backed by the heads of Greater Manchester Police and Merseyside Police, has been welcomed by public safety experts. But yesterday the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, revealed many are worried they could lose their jobs if a complaint is made about the search, which could take the police watchdog years to investigate. Mr Booth said: 'As an organisation, our position is that if this is a priority for senior officers, then make it a priority and we will deal with it. 'The problem is officers are afraid to stop and search, there has been so many high-profile cases and complaints that are officers going to take a risk by stopping someone for the smell of cannabis? 'There are so many priorities, we do not have the capacity to deal with everything. 'If you look at stop and search rates they have plummeted as there have been so many complaints and judicial challenges. 'If you have a group of people and you smell cannabis, do you search everyone? 'Do you risk then being accused of carrying out an unlawful search?' He added: 'You have people who will resist, you may be filmed and it will put on social media... A low-level drug like cannabis, which often ends in a person receiving a caution, officers will be considering the implications if they get it wrong.... Is it worth your job, that's what officers will be feeling.' In the past, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has said it is 'not good practice' for an officer to stop and search someone on the basis of the smell of cannabis alone. Yesterday Rory Geoghegan, of the Public Safety Foundation and a former Met officer and ex-adviser to the Home Office, backed the call by police chiefs. He said: 'Too many politicians, police chiefs and members of the public have been duped into believing cannabis causes little or no harm. 'It is refreshing to see police chiefs coming forward to make clear the importance of tackling the illegal use and supply of this drug. 'Be under no illusion cannabis ruins lives and brings crime and disorder to neighbourhoods.'
Times
7 days ago
- Health
- Times
Smelling cannabis in public makes me feel unsafe, police chief says
The police and crime commissioner lead for substance misuse has said cannabis is 'chronically dangerous'. David Sidwick, who is the police and crime commissioner for Dorset, backed the College of Policing's stance that the smell of the drug on British streets is 'a sign of crime and disorder'. Sir Andy Marsh, the chief executive of the College of Policing and a former chief constable of Avon and Somerset, said smoke made him feel unsafe in his own community and it was the sort of problem that police 'ought to do something about'. It comes after Sir Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, among others, called for possession of small quantities of the class B drug to be decriminalised. Sidwick told The Times: 'I'm really pleased that the College of Policing is taking this seriously because going soft on this stuff doesn't work. The reason why the smell of cannabis is so prevalent is because we've had 30 years of people saying it isn't dangerous. 'I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 30 years and this drug has long-term chronic side effects. It is associated with more birth defects than thalidomide and is linked to more than 20 cancers. Not to mention the issues with psychosis and drug driving.' Sidwick wrote a letter last month to the police minister Diana Johnson which was signed by 13 other police and crime commissioners claiming that the effect of the drug in society 'may be far worse' than heroin. • Have the police effectively decriminalised cannabis already? He said: 'It is a chronically dangerous drug that we haven't gripped. The whole world has been subjected to a PR campaign in the other direction. Some of those countries who have legalised it are trying to put the genie back in the bottle — Thailand and the [Porto] mayor in Portugal — but once it is out it is staying out.' Marsh, who is in charge of national police standards, told the Daily Mail: 'In my community, my kids are too frightened to use the bus stop because it always stinks of cannabis. Policing is about creating an environment that people feel safe in. • How to reclaim the streets from crime, by a police chief with a plan 'I'm speaking from personal experience and people I talk to. If I walk through a town, city, or even village centre and I smell cannabis, it does actually have an impact on how safe I feel. 'One definition of what police should be doing is — [if] something [is] happening which does not feel right, someone ought to do something about it.' 'For me, the smell of cannabis around communities feels like a sign of crime and disorder.' Marsh, speaking before the start of a new leadership programme for policing, was supported by Sir Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester, and Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside, who retires next month. They said police forces were in a 'foot race for public confidence' and could no longer ignore what have traditionally been seen as the 'little things'. Watson said: 'This is the so-called lower level stuff, but actually it really isn't lower level stuff in the sense that this is where the public take their cues as to how safe or otherwise they feel, and how effective or otherwise is policing. 'The public aren't going to give us top marks for being brilliant at investigating murder alone. They expect us to be a full-spectrum organisation and that is what we are seeking to inspire in those who come forward for this course.' Their intervention follows a report, backed by Khan, which recommended that possession of cannabis be dealt with under the Psychoactive Substances Act rather than the Misuse of Drugs Act and that possessing small quantities for personal use should not be a criminal act. The maximum penalty for possession is five years in prison. The report said policing of cannabis possession 'continues to focus on particular ethnic communities, creating damaging, long-lasting consequences for individuals, wider society and police-community relations'. The Home Office said it had 'no intention' of changing the drug's status.
Telegraph
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Top police chiefs call for crackdown on cannabis
Three of Britain's most senior police chiefs have urged their officers to crack down on cannabis use. Sir Andy Marsh, who leads the College of Policing, said the smell of the drug makes him feel unsafe as he urged frontline officers to 'do something about it'. Sir Stephen Watson, the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, and Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside Police, joined him in calling for a tougher line on use of the drug. They said ignoring 'the little stuff' would lead to confidence in police being undermined as they launched a new leadership programme for policing. Sir Andy told the Daily Mail: 'In my community, my kids are too frightened to use the bus stop because it always stinks of cannabis. 'I'm speaking from personal experience and people I talk to, if I walk through a town, city, or even village centre and I smell cannabis, it does actually have an impact on how safe I feel. 'One definition of what police should be doing is – [if] something [is] happening which does not feel right, someone ought to do something about it. 'For me, the smell of cannabis around communities, it feels like a sign of crime and disorder.' His comments are a rebuke to Sir Sadiq Khan, who recently backed legalising possession of small amounts of cannabis over fears drug laws are damaging relations between police and ethnic minorities. The Mayor of London came out in favour of decriminalisation after his independent London drug commission found that cannabis laws were 'disproportionate to the harms it can pose, particularly in the case of possession for personal use'. Cannabis 'not really low-level crime' Meanwhile, figures released on Sunday showed three quarters of people caught with the drug were let off with an informal warning. The head of Merseyside Police said: 'The public should absolutely expect us to take positive action around those things and hold us to account over it. 'We have to work with our communities, it's no longer good enough to inflict priorities on them, we have to hear their voices and make them part of the problem-solving.' Sir Stephen said: 'This is the so-called lower level stuff, but actually it really isn't lower level stuff in the sense that this is where the public take their cues as to how safe or otherwise they feel, and how effective or otherwise is policing.' The three also backed an overhaul of the recording of non-crime hate incidents as they are damaging public trust in policing. Sir Andy said 'immutable damage to trust and confidence' in forces is caused when police handle these things wrong.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Police hit out at 'distraction of non-crime hate incidents' as officers forced to waste time investigating cases like a nine-year-old who called a fellow pupil a 'r*****' and two schoolgirls who said a child smelled 'like fish'
Britain's top police chiefs have warned that recording 'non-crime hate incidents' has become a 'distraction' which is damaging public trust. Sir Andy Marsh who leads the College of Policing, Greater Manchester chief Sir Stephen Watson and Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy have jointly called for an overhaul of the legislation saying it needs 'sorting out' because the issue can do 'immeasurable damage to trust and confidence' in policing. Launching a new leadership programme for policing, the trio spoke candidly about the need for future chief constables to communicate to the public how they are going to 'cut crime, catch criminals, keep people safe,' instead of wasting time on 'hurty words'. It comes after a series of controversial cases, including officers responding to incidents such as a nine-year-old pupil calling another a 'retard' and an occasion when two secondary schoolgirls said that a child smelled 'like fish'. More than 133,000 non-crime hate incidents have been recorded since they were introduced in 2014. But in November the Home Secretary announced a review following a request from the National Police Chiefs' Council and the College of Policing, which sets standards. Yesterday Sir Stephen said: 'It's easy to assume that we have some sort of weird fetish chasing stuff in social media, frankly we would rather really not if we can avoid it. 'In the context of things that are communicated online, people will accuse us sometimes of pursuing hurty words on the basis, somehow, it's an attack on free speech.' He added: 'I do think it has become a distraction. It has become something that the public trouble themselves over and particularly when they contrast our being seen to do things which they would argue are not matters for the police – and in certain examples they are right – contrast that with some of our failures to do some of the basics and that really annoys people.' Ms Kennedy added: 'Non-crime hate incidents are having a disproportionate impact on trust and confidence in policing and we absolutely need to sort that out in terms of what is the role of policing. 'We also need to be clear that our officers are not spending hours and hours and hours dealing with these jobs every day… But the reason we do need to sort it out is because of the disproportionate impact it has on policing every time we hear about one of these stories.' Sir Andy told the Mail: 'When policing gets it wrong, it causes immeasurable damage to trust and confidence.'
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Top police chiefs say smell of cannabis is a 'sign of crime' that can make even them feel 'unsafe'... and frontline officers should 'do something about it'
Britain's top police chiefs today urge their officers to crack down on cannabis. The country's longest-serving chief constable admits the smell of the drug is a 'sign of crime and disorder' which makes even him 'feel unsafe'. Sir Andy Marsh, who leads the College of Policing, said frontline officers should 'do something about it'. He is backed by Greater Manchester Police Chief Sir Stephen Watson and Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy. In a joint intervention following recent calls for decriminalisation, they tell future police leaders they must listen to their communities and be prepared to take a tougher line. Launching a new leadership programme for policing, they acknowledged forces were in a 'foot race for public confidence' and officers can no longer ignore what has traditionally been perceived as the 'little stuff'. Sir Andy, who is the officer in charge of police standards, said: 'In my community, my kids are too frightened to use the bus stop because it always stinks of cannabis.' He told the Mail 'policing is about creating an environment that people feel safe in' and said: 'I'm speaking from personal experience and people I talk to, if I walk through a town, city, or even village centre and I smell cannabis, it does actually have an impact on how safe I feel. 'One definition of what police should be doing is – [if] something [is] happening which does not feel right, someone ought to do something about it.' He added: 'For me, the smell of cannabis around communities, it feels like a sign of crime and disorder.' The call for action comes after figures on Sunday revealed that three in four people caught with the drug last year were let off with an informal warning or community resolution. In the year to September 2024, 68,513 people were found in possession of cannabis, but only 17,000 were charged, according to data released under Freedom of Information laws. Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has called for the decriminalisation of possession when it involves small amounts of the drug. But recently judges have warned that cannabis is 'not a benign drug' after a series of horrific cases, including a samurai sword rampage in Hainault, east London, where a schoolboy was killed and four others seriously injured by a drug-crazed Brazilian who had a £100-a-day habit. The head of Merseyside Police said of cannabis: 'The public should absolutely expect us to take positive action around those things and hold us to account over it. 'We have to work with our communities, it's no longer good enough to inflict priorities on them, we have to hear their voices and make them part of the problem-solving.' In Greater Manchester, Sir Stephen tells his officers not to ignore the 'little things' that make people feel unsafe. 'This is the so-called lower level stuff, but actually it really isn't lower level stuff in the sense that this is where the public take their cues as to how safe or otherwise they feel, and how effective or otherwise is policing,' he said. Sir Stephen revealed a new 'executive leadership programme' was teaching future chief constables that they don't just need business skills and political acumen. He said: 'We are seeking to equip people, not just to deal with a critical incident which takes on national significance and has the potential to damage trust and confidence in policing, but also to recognise that on day-to-day watch, some of the stuff at the basic end of the market absolutely has to be done. 'The public aren't going to give us top marks for being brilliant at investigating murder alone. They expect us to be a full-spectrum organisation and that is what we are seeking to inspire in those who come forward for this course.' He added: 'We are very acutely aware that we are in a foot race for public confidence at the moment and there is a lot of concern at its lowest, and perhaps visceral criticism at its highest, where there is a gap between what the public expect of the police and what they are getting.'
