Stop and Search - The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)
Section 1(2) of the Police And Criminal Evidence Act 1984	The main power, used on a daily basis by the police is contained in sec 1 of PACE. It allows police officers to stop and search a person or vehicle for stolen or prohibited articles. The power can only be exercised if the office has "reasonable grounds" for suspicion. This is a nebulous area, but an attempt to clarify what constitutes "reasonable grounds" can be found in Code A of the Codes of Practice.
Codes of Practice, Code A	Details of Code A are here.
Under sec1 of PACE the police can search for	Stolen goods Articles for use in certain Theft Act offences. Offensive weapons, including bladed or sharply-pointed articles (except folding pocket knives with a bladed cutting edge not exceeding 3 inches). Articles made, adapted or intended for use in destroying or damaging property, added by Section 1 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 e.g. paint sprays, etching tools and tools used to cause graffiti. “fireworks” within the definition of “fireworks” in section 1(1) of the Fireworks Act 2003, added by the Section 115 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. ( The Fireworks Regulations 2004 made it an offence to: possess adult fireworks (all fireworks except party poppers and sparklers, etc.) in a public place by anyone under the age of 18; possess category 4 fireworks (professional display fireworks) by anyone other than a fireworks professional.) Items that the police can search for under Section 1 of PACE include the stolen articles and offensive weapons, PACE was amended and the above articles were added, the amended Act is shown here.
Searches for other items	Other stop and search powers allow the police to search for other items, these include: Drugs, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Contraband, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. Alcohol at sporting events, Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985. Firearms and crossbows, Firearms Act, Crossbows Act.
In a nutshell...	Police can search for: Stolen items Offensive weapons Articles for use in cheat Articles for causing damage Adult fireworks Drugs Firearms Smuggled goods Alcohol (at sporting events) Many environmental articles, and lots more.
Public place or ready access	The police stop and search power under PACE is limited to detain and search in a place to which the public have access, or any other place to which people have ready access, (but which is not a dwelling), (at the time when the police officer proposes to exercise the power). This does not permit the police officer to enter a dwelling but they may search a person outside a dwelling.
Powers of entry under sections 17 & 18	If the police wish to search a dwelling or someone in a dwelling they have to use different powers and are subject to greater restrictions.
Written record must be made of the search	Sec 3(1) PACE. When a police officer conducts a search, he must make a written record of the search unless it is not practicable to do so. Where it is not practicable to do so, a record must be made 'as soon as is reasonably practicable after the completion of the search'.
G.O.W.I.S.E. - L.Y.	Section 2 provides statutory safeguards in relation to PACE and under any other stop and search power. Before searching a person or vehicle or detaining a person or vehicle or person for the purposes of a search, the officer must take reasonable steps to bring to the person's attention:- i) his name; ii) the name of the police station to which he is attached; iii) the object of the search; and iv) his grounds for making the search. The person must also be informed that he is entitled to a record of the search and to which police station he should apply to obtain the record (CODE A para 2.6). The acronym GOWISE - LY is taught to police officers to remind them of each requirement:- [G]rounds for the search [O]bject of the search [W]arrant card must be produced if in plain clothes [I]dentify, the PC must inform the suspect of his name [S]tation, the police station at which the constable works. [E]ntitlement to a copy of the search record [L]egal power being used to for detention. [Y]ou are being detained for the purpose of search...suspect must be told he is being detained.
Human Rights and race relations	The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 makes it unlawful for police officers to discriminate on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality or national origins when using their powers. It should be remembered that the Metropolitan Police Service was held to be "institutionally racist" at the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry. Although the legislation does not refer to the Human Rights Act 1998, the police are required to comply with its provisions. Research by the Home Office on a regular basis indicates that black and minority ethnic (BME) suspects are stopped and search disproportionately more often than white people. Research in 2006 shows that this is increasing. "Black people were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched under these powers than White people, ... Asian people were twice as likely to be stopped and searched than White people ..." Race and the criminal justice system 2008 statistics
Stop and Account
Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report - written records of stops and stops and searches	Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report was launched in April 2005, Home Office document here. Recommendation 61 of the report said that the police must make a written record of all “stops” and “stops and searches” made under any legislation. Non-statutory or so called “voluntary” stops must also be recorded. The record to include the reason for the stop, the outcome, and the self-defined ethnic identity of the person stopped. A copy of the record shall be given to the person stopped. This has raised serious criticism of an increased bureaucratic burden.
A police stop is defined by the Home Office as...	... “when an officer requests a person in a public place to account for themselves i.e. their actions, behaviour, presence in an area or possession of anything, a record of the encounter must be completed at the time and a copy given to the person who has been questioned, this is unless there are exceptional circumstances ... a record of an encounter must always be made when a person requests it, regardless of whether the officer considers that the criteria set out has been met.”
Stop and Account and Stop and Search	The long existing power of Stop and Search appears to have been supplement by a power to Stop and Account. The origins of this procedure and the above definition is the implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry. There is no legislative framework for requiring a person to 'account' for themselves.
The Stop and Search Action Team (SSAT) was launched on 2 July 2004	Its main aim is to ensure that the police force use the stop and search power fairly and as effectively as possible. Lord Victor Adebowale CBE is the chair of the Stop and Search Action Team Community Panel. The Home Office is currently in the process of appointing the members of the panel community panel. The panel will consist of 20 prominent representatives from communities throughout the country. The panel’s first meeting will be in early December. Among the Community Panels' terms of reference are: to provide advice to the Stop and Search Action Team (SSAT) and the delivery board on the race and community impact of the SSAT work programme; The Stop and Search Action Team Delivery Board, which works alongside the community panel, provides expert and professional advice to SSAT, and makes sure that SSAT delivers against its work programme. More information about Stop and Search can be found on the Home Office web site, here.