Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact

UK police forces 'still abusing stop and search powers'

12 February 2016

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

"Most of Britain’s police forces are still failing to obey rules to prevent abuse of their stop and search powers, according to the police regulator, raising the prospect that the government will legislate to force them to do so.

A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary found that one in seven stops may be unlawful, despite promises by police chiefs to reform."

See the article: UK police forces 'still abusing stop and search powers' (The Guardian, link)

And see: Concrete Proposal for Reform: Open Letter to Theresa May (StopWatch, link): "We welcome your decision to suspend thirteen forces from the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme as a result of the HMIC’s findings but this fails to go far enough. It is clear that the police cannot be expected to reform themselves and membership of a voluntary scheme has not driven the desired change. In April 2014 you promised that if these reforms failed, you would bring forth primary legislation. StopWatch therefore calls on the Home Office to introduce primarily legislation to reform stop and search once and for all."

Synthesis report: PEEL: Police legitimacy 2015: A national overview (pdf) and HMIC press release: Most police forces judged to be fair and ethical – but are let down by lack of progress on stop and search (pdf). Reports for each English and Welsh constabulary are available on the HMIC website: PEEL: Police legitimacy 2015 (link).

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

UK: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee: The big data dilemma

Next article 

USA: State surveillance: "going dark"? Maybe not

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy