In 2013, Her Majesty s Inspectorate of Constabularies published Stop and Search Powers: Are the police using them effectively and fairly?

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Giles White
5 years ago
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1 STOP & SEARCH POWERS Are the police using them effectively and fairly? In 2013, Her Majesty s Inspectorate of Constabularies published Stop and Search Powers: Are the police using them effectively and fairly? The HMIC made 10 recommendations in the report and made a commitment to revisit the subject 18 months later to assess and progress against those recommendations. In 2015, the HMIC published Stop and Search Powers 2: Are the police using them effectively and fairly? One of the recommendations of the 2015 report is for: Chief constables should, with immediate effect, develop plans that set out how each force will complete the action required to make good progress in relation to the recommendations in HMIC's 2013 report, and publish these plans so that the public can easily see them on their websites. These plans should include the action forces are taking to comply fully with the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme, initiated in April 2014 by the Home Secretary. The current position for Kent Police in respect of each recommendation is outlined below: 2013 Recommendation Kent Police Response 1 Chief Constables and the College of Policing should establish in the Stop and Search Authorised Professional Practice a clear specification of what constitutes effective and fair exercise of Stop and Search powers, and guidance in this respect. This should be -As soon as this has been established at a national level, we will work with the College of Policing to ensure that this is communicated effectively to all relevant personnel and that understanding of this guidance, is routinely checked and assessed by supervisors.

2 compliant with the Code of Practice. 2 Chief Constables should establish, or improve, monitoring of the way officers Stop and Search people so that they can be satisfied their officers are acting in accordance with the law (including Equality Legislation and the Code of Practice) and that the power is used effectively to prevent crime, catch criminals and maintain public trust. This monitoring should, in particular, enable police leaders to ensure officers have the reasonable grounds (and, where applicable, authorising officers have the reasonable belief) required by law to justify each Stop and Search encounter. - The database that records Stop and Search encounters in Kent includes: The location, the grounds given by the police officer for the search, the ethnicity of person searched the object of the search and the outcome. - All stop and search records are reviewed by a supervisor to ensure compliance with Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. -Supervisors can identify individual officer trends and make intervention as required. -Each policing division has a dedicated Stop and Search- Single Point of Contact who coordinates the monitoring of Stop and Search records by the The Independent Police Advisory Group.(IPAG) -The Kent Police Diversity Board review Stop and Search data at their quarterly meetings. -All supervisors have been made aware of current force policy and their specific requirements within it. -Management information on Stop and Search records to be subject to senior manager scrutiny. -Database for collating Stop and Search data is being upgraded to record details of removal of more than outer coat, jacket and gloves. -Section 60 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 Stop and Search authorisations are given by an officer of at least Assistant Chief Constable rank. 3 Chief Constables should ensure that officers carrying out Stop and Search encounters are supervised -Supervisors are notified of each stop and search conducted by a member of their team and are required to validate a stop and

3 so that they can be confident that the law is being complied with and that the power is being used fairly and effectively. Particular attention should be given to compliance with the Code of Practice and Equality Legislation. search or reject the submission and return to the officer to provide additional information. -Validation by supervisors is conducted with information which includes: the grounds given by the police officer for the search, the ethnicity of the person searched, the object of the search and the outcome. 4 The College of Policing should work with Chief Constables to design national training requirements to improve officers understanding of the legal basis for their use of Stop and Search powers; skills in establishing and recording the necessary reasonable grounds for suspicion; knowledge of how best to use the powers to prevent and detect crime; and understanding of the impact that Stop and Search encounters can have on community confidence and trust in the police. Specific training should also be tailored to the supervisors and leaders of those carrying out Stops and Searches. 5 Chief Constables should ensure that officers and supervisors who need this training are required to complete it and that their understanding of what they learn is tested. -This recommendation is being developed at a national level. The aim is to provide a structured national training programme in order to improve officers understanding of their use of the Stop and Search powers, the establishment of reasonable grounds, the impact of the use of the powers upon communities, and how to use the powers effectively in tackling crime. -Kent Police has Stop and Search training provided within the annual Officer Safety Training refresher course. -IPAG members undertake role play with probationer constables as part of their Stop and Search training. -Regular force communication has been undertaken to heighten Stop / Search awareness -Please see Recommendation 4 Update Above 6 Chief Constables should ensure that relevant intelligence gleaned from Stop and Search encounters is gathered, promptly placed on their force intelligence systems, and analysed to assist the broader crime-fighting effort. -Force Intelligence Units have access to the Stop / Search database - Separate intelligence reports are completed on specific intelligence which is gleaned from Stop / Search encounters, these are then inputted directly onto the Kent Police

4 intelligence database. 7 Chief Constables should, in consultation with elected policing bodies, ensure that they comply with the Code of Practice by explaining to the public the way Stop and Search powers are used in their areas and by making arrangements for Stop and Search records to be scrutinised by community representatives. This should be done in a way that involves those people who are Stopped and Searched, for example, young people. - The location of a Stop and Search encounter is to be matched with crime locations identified by the Kent Police Predictive Policing Model, to support an intelligent led approach to the effective and fair use of Stop and Search in targeted locations. -Kent Police s website includes a Stop and Search page providing information to the public on police powers. -Stop and Search records are scrutinised by the Independent Police Advisory Group. -A Ride Along Scheme is being developed to enable public scrutiny of the police use of Stop and Search in an operational setting. 8 Chief Constables should ensure that those people who are dissatisfied with the way they are treated during stop and search encounters can report this to the force and have their views considered and, if they wish, make a formal complaint quickly and easily. This should include information about dissatisfaction reported to other agencies. -All people subject to a Stop and Search are provided with a Stop and Search reference card. The information on this card provides information to enable them to view the Kent Police web site- Stop and Search page. This page enables a person to inform the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) of their dissatisfaction from a Stop and Search encounter. -The Ride Along Scheme, Independent Observers, will be able to provide feedback to the OPCC/Kent Police on Stop and Search dissatisfaction brought to their attention when out on patrol with officers. -The Stop and search website page also provides information on how to make a formal complaint against police following a Stop and Search encounter.

5 -All complaints relating to a Stop and Search encounter will be referred to the local IPAG in a depersonalised format, as part of the public scrutiny process. 9 Chief constables should introduce a nationally agreed form (paper or electronic) for the recording of stop and search encounters, in accordance with the Code of Practice. 10 Chief constables should work with their elected policing bodies to find a way of better using technology to record relevant information about stop and search encounters which complies with the law and reveals how effectively and fairly the power is being used. -Nationally this has been considered and, due to the various database systems adopted by individual forces, minimum data sets to be recorded for Stop and Search, by individual Forces is the preferred way forward. -Kent Police has introduced a database that complies with the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme. -The database provides information which allows the Independent Police Advisory Group to scrutinise Stop and Search records and provide feedback. Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme, initiated in April 2014 by the Home Secretary. There are 4 key aspects to the scheme and the following is an outline of the actions being undertaken by Kent Police to fully comply with the scheme. 1. Data Recording: We have expanded our data requirements and Home Office return information to record instances where a Stop and Search encounter has resulted in any of the following outcomes. Arrest, Summons, Caution, Khat or Cannabis Warning, Penalty Notice for Disorder, Community Resolution or No Further Action. We are introducing additional search fields to record the removal of clothing. This record will record the clothing that was removed; the age of the person searched; whether the removal of clothing revealed intimate parts of the person s body; the location of the search including whether or not it was conducted in public view; and the sex of the officers present.

6 2. Lay Observation Policies: We have engaged the Independent Police Advisory Group (IPAG) to scrutinise Kent Police Stop and Search Records. The database we have developed provides a range of information which is available to the IPAG to scrutinise. This includes Object of the search, Location, Ethnicity, Age, Grounds for the search and outcome of the search. Kent Police will receive feedback from the IPAG and take appropriate action. Kent Police are developing a Ride Along Scheme. The scheme will enable Independent Observers recruited through the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), to patrol with officers and witness first hand Stop and Search procedures. The Independent Observers will seek the views of the person searched and provide the OPCC feedback on how they believe the Stop and Search was conducted and any dissatisfaction. This feedback will support good practise and training development. 3. Stop and Search Complaints - Community Trigger: There have over the last few years been a low number of complaints recorded by Kent Police relating to Stop and Search encounters. To ensure that we have in place a robust Community Trigger process to scrutinise complaints, each complaint Kent Police receives, will be brought to the attention of the Independent Police Advisory Group in a de-personalised format. This will enable the IPAG to provide any appropriate feedback to aid good practise and training development. 4. Reducing Section 60 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994,Stop and Search No-Suspicion Stop and Searches by Raising the Level of Authority Required to Undertake the Power: In compliance with the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme, an officer of the rank of Assistant Chief Constable, is now required to authorise a section 60 search power. All extensions must also be authorised by an officer of at least the rank of Assistant Chief Constable.

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