Police censured over ethnic checks in Glasgow Airport

POLICE stop and search officers have been given additional training after concerns were raised over the number of ethnic minorities being stopped and questioned at Glasgow Airport.

POLICE stop and search officers have been given additional training after concerns were raised over the number of ethnic minorities being stopped and questioned at Glasgow Airport.

Assistant Chief Constable Ronnie Liddle defended the use of controversial Schedule 7 stop and search powers, which governs the search of people at airports and is confident added training will see complaints “diminish”.

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Police insist that they have never used race or religion as a basis for deciding to exercise the powers, but accept that a perception has built up that they are not being used fairly.

Liddle, who took over as Scotland’s national counter-terrorism co-ordinator five weeks ago, said: “It’s a really difficult area. I attended an awareness raising seminar at Glasgow Airport with some members of the Muslim community. Schedule 7 does receive a disproportionate number of complaints across the UK, and in terms of Scotland it is something we need to work on.”

Police are also looking to work more closely with partners and Liddle said he was open to schemes, such as that operated with Virgin Atlantic, which puts on seasonal flights between Glasgow and Orlando, Florida, where cabin crew look out for human traffickers, as ways of increasing border protection.

They are also handing out leaflets explaining Schedule 7, and ensuring passengers know when they are being stopped by immigration or customs officials, as opposed to police.

Humza Yousaf MSP, who raised concerns about use of the power last year, said he believed the situation had improved, but more work needs to be done. I think this summer will be the big test, particularly with increased Emirates flights from Glasgow to Dubai.”