Scottish Liberal Democrats have welcomed a submission from ASPS, a staff association for senior officers, to the Scottish Government Advisory Group on Stop and Search.

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Alison McInnes MSP said:

“This is a valuable contribution by ASPS to Scotland’s debate on the use of so-called consensual stop and search by police.

“It is becoming clearer that civil liberties of law-abiding citizens have been brushed aside by Police Scotland management in the pursuit of arbitrary targets. In England, all stop and searches have been on a statutory footing for many years.

“My amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill seek to put all stop and search on a legal footing and introduce a code of practice. I hope more charities and policing organisations will lend their support to this move.”