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