Stop & Search, Stop & Account - Know your rights
One of the major recommendations of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry of 1999 was that all stops and searches conducted by police officers should be recorded. On 1st April 2005, this passed into law and it became a requirement for police officers to make a record of all non-statutory stops.
Surrey Police Authority scrutinises Surrey Police's use of Stop & Search and Stop & Account powers, and actively promotes awareness of people's rights in these situations.
If you have any questions on Stop & Search that are not answered on this page, or would like more information on your rights, please contact us and we will do our best to help.
Stop and Search
A police officer can also search you if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that you are in possession of:
- drugs
- weapons
- stolen property
- items which could be used to commit a crime or damage property
Stop and Account
A 'Stop and Account' encounter is when an officer requests a person in a public place to account for themselves, be it:
- their actions
- their behaviour
- the reasons for their presence in an area or
- possession of any given item.
Stop and Account applies when officers ask questions which are more than just general conversation. For this reason general conversation is not part of the Stop and Account regulations.
You can find more information on your rights at the Association of Police Authorities (APA) website here
New Stop and Account pilot project for West Surrey
The West Surrey Division is taking part in a pilot on ‘Stop and Account’ encounters. This trial is due to start on 3rd November 2008 and is a result of the recommendations from Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s Review of Policing Report and forms part of the Surrey Public First initiative. This review focused on cutting red tape and made specific recommendations on ‘Stop and Account’. The changes will mean that police officers use their ‘Airwave’ communication terminals to record necessary information, cutting down on paperwork and sending the data straight to police systems. Those people who are asked to ‘stop and account’ will simply be asked for their ethnicity and will be provided with a business card style receipt. No forms will have to be filled in.
The Police Force monitors the ethnicity of those people it stops to check to see whether one group of people is disproportinately stopped. This helps the Police to ensure that all encounters are conducted in an effective and fair manner.
The Association of Police Authorities (APA) has produced a leaflet to explain your rights, which you can view here.
The APA is conducting a national survey of people's views on Stop and Search. To participate online, please click here.
