I previously said that we could not provide that information, but I can now give you an absolute reassurance that we can. With the new database that has been in place since 1 May, we can and will provide such information, which will be part of the scrutiny.
Mr Pearson, I believe, previously made the point that the details of people who were stopped and searched were not recorded. He was right about the historical position but, since 1 May, all the details—the nominal data, ethnicity, age, date of birth, location and type of search information—have been recorded on the database and will be subject to dip sampling.
Mrs McInnes previously referred to poor governance, oversight and scrutiny. I hope that the pilot, the database and other accountability issues that we have identified will address some of the concerns that you have raised over the past few months. I thank you for those comments, because they have informed Police Scotland about the way forward.
The improved, forward-looking data is the result of a suite of new analytical products that allow me, my officers and all the officers in Police Scotland to deploy in the right areas. We have used professional judgment and previous crime trends but we now have what is called a geographic and temporal alignment tool, or GTAT, which is one of the SPA’s recommendations. Officers in Fife are being trained in the tool, which, from 1 July, will inform officers about where to deploy a week on Tuesday or Wednesday instead of my having to review deployment retrospectively. It will improve information on where my officers deploy, why they are deploying there and who they are targeting. It focuses on intelligence; after all, the point is that we want to improve our intelligence products.
I hope that the improving data strand will address recommendation 3 in the SPA report, which is about the roll-out of GTAT. It will certainly test recommendation 5, which is about knowing that stop and search is focusing on the right people at the right time, and recommendation 9, which is about recording the details on the information technology system.
The second strand, which is on improving confidence, represents a big step forward for Police Scotland and for the people who are subject to stop and search, and their parents. In the pilot, which commences on 1 July and lasts six months, we will do something that we have never done before and send a letter to the parent of every child who has been subject to a stop and search, setting out that their son or daughter has been stopped and searched, the area in which it happened and the reason for it.
We are doing that for a number of reasons. As a parent, I think that it is morally right to inform parents, because it will allow them to question their child about why they were in a particular area at a particular time. Given that we focus our resources on areas of high crime, high violence and high disorder, I, as a parent, would want to know why my child was in such an area.
Furthermore, by telling people that we are stopping and searching their children, we are trying to be open and transparent. The letters, which will go out within 24 hours during the week and within 48 hours at the weekend, will go to every parent or guardian—after all, some of those involved will be looked-after children—and give the reasons behind the stop and search.
In the same strand, the introduction of the advice slip represents another positive move forward. Every person who is subject to a stop and search, whether they be a child or an adult, will get an advice slip to take away and reflect on. The slip, which I will happily share with members, outlines what stop and search is about, highlights the difference between a consensual and a legislative stop and search and provides a contact number for giving feedback to the police. Now that we are getting up to speed with IT, the advice slip comes with a QR, or quick response, code that can be scanned by mobile phones. The advice slip also contains a number of questions that I hope will improve our organisational delivery and the way in which our people conduct stop and searches.
Every officer in Fife division will have an aide-mémoire on how to conduct a stop and search, why they are doing it and the difference between a legislative and a consensual one. When we conduct a consensual or non-statutory stop and search, we have a form of words that we read out in advance to make it absolutely clear to the child or adult that they do not have to take part. That form of words is no longer something for the toolkit—it is now a must for every officer. It will be endorsed in their notebooks and checked by supervisors.