Just two arrests out 1,500 searches

Of the 1,487 persons and vehicles stopped under Section 44 powers between April-September 2009, one person was caught with drugs while another is on bail for alleged burglary, a Limavady District Policing Partnership meeting heard.

Expressing concern at what he called the "disproportionate" number for the Limavady area compared to other areas in the North, Sinn Fein councillor and DPP member Cathal O'hOisin said the action had caused "quite a bit of public concern". He said the number was "twice as high as Belfast" and "50 times higher than neighbouring boroughs".

"We are still waiting on an explanation how Limavady could be different from north and west Belfast put together and how G District could be 50 times worse than Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine, Larne and Moyle put together?" he said after the meeting.

Insp. Tony Callaghan told those at Wednesday's meeting he accepted Section 44 is seen by some as a "retrograde step" for police, a step back to the "bad old days where boots and bonnets were opened and searched" and people were subjected to questioning from officers and sitting in traffic queues.

He said no one likes to be held up going somewhere but, the bottom line is, the measure is used to "protect the public from terrorists carrying bombs and bullets that injured one of our officers".

Insp. Clive Spence said use of Section 44 was ramped up after the car bomb attack on PSNI officer Peadar Heffron on January 8 and is being closely monitored.

"There are a group of people out there who have made it clear their wish is to murder police officers and we have to use our powers to stop that," he said.

Referring to the burglary arrest, he added: "There have been spin off-offs from it. It's a necessary task at the moment."