Stop on-the-spot fingerprint scanning

The Home Office quietly announced, without debate in Parliament, that West Yorkshire Police will be rolling out on-the-spot fingerprint scanning on 10th Feb 2018. The checks will include UK Border Agency and Criminal Records databases.

Over 30yrs ago I was fined for a minor offence and my fingerprints were recorded at the time. If I were to encounter a stop-and-scan check whilst with my boss or an important customer, they would be able to tell instantly that I had a criminal record, and even if I wasn't fired I'd be looked at unfairly for promotion.

Worse still, with UK Border Agency database checks, we know that the Police will disproportionately target ethnic minorities. We have seen how incompetent the UKBA are at dealing with EU applications for permanent residency, and you can be sure that many legal EU citizens will be falsely arrested during these stops.

PACE (the Police and Criminal Evidence Act) s61 currently states that the Police can only take your fingerprints without consent after you've been arrested or you're caught red-handed. However, by virtue of having these scanners the Police will intimidate people into giving consent.

Please sign the petition to stop this unfair system, which hasn't even been agreed to by Parliament.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/police-trial-new-home-office-mobile-fingerprint-technology
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/section/61