Stop And Search Powers Analysis

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Recommended: Policing in the UK

In this essay, I will outline the statutory powers granted to the police and explain how they are used in the fight against crime, including crimes relating to terrorism. I will then evaluate the criticisms made of stop and search powers from a range of sources, before offering solutions of how these criticisms may be addressed. Additionally, I will critically discuss how the Government plan to fight these criticisms and discuss how they plan to reform stop and search powers in the near future. A search without a warrant is a method of detecting criminal activity in the United Kingdom and has existed since the Judges’ Rules which were first issued in 1912 by judges of the King’s Bench with the intention to give police forces guidance on the procedural duties they should fulfil when conducting questioning or detention of suspects. These Judges’ Rules have been replaced by a range of legislation which is collectively regulated by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 Code A of practice.

There is a wide range of legislation available that serves to govern the police’s use of statutory stop and search powers. Below I will briefly outline the powers each legislation provides the police with, before commenting on how these powers fight criminal activity within the United Kingdom. It is important to note that despite the wide range of legislation available to legitimise the stop and search powers of police, the Police and Criminal Evidence’s 1984 Code A of practice is the main legislation that collectively regulates stop and searches conducted by police constables in the United Kingdom. Additionally, I will also briefly outline the pieces of legislation relating to Terrorism in the United Kingdom.

The first three pieces of l...

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...as reasonable cause to suspect that there is a firearm in a vehicle in a public place, or that a vehicle is being or is about to be used in connection with the commission of an offence relevant for the purposes of this section elsewhere than in a public place, he may search the vehicle and for that purpose require the person driving or in control of it to stop it.’

The statutory powers granted to the police by these pieces of legislation serve as a method of tackling crime on the streets of the United Kingdom. For the police in the UK, the power and ability to stop and search an individual who they suspect of being involved in a crime is a vital tactic necessary to undermine criminal activity. It can be argued that stop and search powers provide a useful means to confirm or deny suspicions about individuals without having to exercise their power to arrest someone.

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