What is stop-and-search and what are my rights?
- Published
Team GB athlete Bianca Williams and her partner were stopped and searched by police in London
Two Metropolitan Police officers have been sacked for gross misconduct following the stop-and-search of athlete Bianca Williams.
In July 2020, the British sprinter and her partner, fellow athlete Richard dos Santos, were handcuffed and searched outside their car in London.
Nothing was found, and no arrests were made.
What is stop-and-search?
In England and Wales, Section 1 stop-and-search powers, external let police search an individual or vehicle if they have "reasonable grounds" to suspect the person is carrying:
illegal drugs
a weapon
stolen property
something that could be used to commit a crime, such as a crowbar.
How else can the police stop and search people?
Some stop-and-searches can be carried out without "reasonable grounds", under Section 60 powers, external.
People can be searched under these powers when senior officers reasonably believe that serious violence may take place in an area. The powers can also be used after a violent incident has happened.
Section 60 searches cover a specified area - usually a neighbourhood, sometimes a whole borough - for a defined period of time. This can last initially up to 24 hours but can be extended up to 48 hours with the authorisation of a superintendent.
Local communities do not need to be told about Section 60 powers in advance.
How many stop-and-searches are carried out in England and Wales?
In the year to March 2023, the police carried out 547,003 stop-and-searches,, external up 3% from the 530,365 recorded in the previous 12-month period.
Nearly a third (32%) were conducted by the Met Police in London.
The overall number of stop-and-searches has fallen significantly since the 2009 peak of 1.5 million.
There were 4,280 Section 60 stop-and-searches in the 12 months to March 2023, slightly down on the previous 12-month-period (4,341) and less than half the year before (9,002).
Who is subject to stop-and-search?
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of searches in the year ending March 2023, external were of 15 to 34-year-old males, a group that makes up 13% of the population.
Where ethnicity was self-defined, or defined by a police officer, black people were more than five times as likely to be searched than white people. Asian and mixed raced people were searched at a rate 1.6 times the rate of white people.
In April 2022, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), external made 18 recommendations to police forces across England and Wales to address the "disproportionate use of stop-and-search on people from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds".
Does stop-and-search work?
Not all searches where something is found - such as small-scale drug possession - result in arrest.
Of the 547,003 stop-and-searches carried out in the year to March 2023, 74,000 (14%) led to an arrest.
In 71% of cases, external, "no further action" was taken, similar to the year before.
A number of reports - including some commissioned by the government, external - question its impact on crime levels. For example, a 2016 study found that a stop-and-search operation in some London boroughs had no effect on police-recorded knife crime, external.
What rights do you have if you are stopped?
Police officers cannot stop you because of your race, gender or previous criminal record.
You must comply if stopped but should be told:, external
why they are stopping you and under what law
what they expect to find.
You can be asked to remove gloves, a jacket or coat.
However, if officers want to remove anything else (including religious clothing) they must take you out of public view. You should be searched by someone of the same sex.
You can film or record the experience. Many officers also have body cameras.
You should be given a receipt of the search, or told how to get one, and given contact details if you wish to complain.
What are the rules for a strip-search?
Strip-searches, external must be performed by an officer of the same sex with authorisation from a senior officer. It is recommended the senior officer is of at least inspector rank.
They can only be carried out when officers have reasonable grounds to suspect someone is concealing something harmful - such as a weapon or class A drug - which wasn't found during a standard search.
If a child is strip-searched, an appropriate adult (a person safeguarding the child's interests) must also be present. The child can request - with the adult's agreement - that the appropriate adult is not present during the search.
In separate incidents in December 2020, two teenagers from ethnic-minority backgrounds - both of whom were menstruating - were strip-searched by Met officers.
What happens in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
The laws regarding stop-and-search in Scotland , externaland Northern Ireland, external are slightly different, but "reasonable grounds" are generally required.
In Northern Ireland, 25,858 people were stopped and searched, external between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023, a 28% increase on the previous 12 months.
Between April 2022 and March 2023, Police Scotland carried out a total of 29,926 stop-and-searches, external.