Crime and Security Bill

Is not the reason why so few people are arrested as a result of section 44 precisely because these searches are meant to be random and thereby send out a message? Because of their randomness, all sorts of people are stopped and searched who would not normally expect to be so. Also, if the searches were not random, but instead were targeted at certain groups of people by age, ethnicity or anything else, the hon. Gentleman would be the first to complain.