{"id":54,"date":"2021-06-28T13:22:12","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T13:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/?page_id=54"},"modified":"2021-06-28T13:25:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T13:25:20","slug":"police-powers-to-stop-and-search-your-rights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/police-powers-to-stop-and-search-your-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Police powers to stop and search: your rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The police can stop and question you at any time<\/strong> – they can search you depending on the situation.<\/p>\n

A police community support officer (PCSO) must be in uniform when they stop and question you. A police officer doesn\u2019t always have to be in uniform but if they\u2019re not wearing uniform they must show you their warrant card<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Stop and question: police powers<\/strong><\/p>\n

A police officer might stop you and ask:<\/p>\n

what your name is
\nwhat you\u2019re doing in the area
\nwhere you\u2019re going<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to stop or answer any questions<\/strong>. If you don\u2019t and there\u2019s no other reason to suspect you, then this alone can\u2019t be used as a reason to search or arrest you.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Stop and search: police powers<\/strong><\/p>\n

A police officer has powers to stop and search you if they have \u2018reasonable grounds\u2019 to suspect you\u2019re carrying:<\/p>\n

illegal drugs
\na weapon
\nstolen property
\nsomething which could be used to commit a crime, such as a crowbar<\/p>\n

You can only be stopped and searched without reasonable grounds if it has been approved by a senior police officer<\/strong>. This can happen if it is suspected that:<\/p>\n

serious violence could take place
\nyou\u2019re carrying a weapon or have used one
\nyou\u2019re in a specific location or area[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Before you\u2019re searched<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before you\u2019re searched the police officer must tell you<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

their name and police station
\nwhat they expect to find, for example drugs
\nthe reason they want to search you, for example if it looks like you\u2019re hiding something
\nwhy they are legally allowed to search you
\nthat you can have a record of the search and if this isn\u2019t possible at the time, how you can get a copy[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Removing clothing: police powers<\/strong><\/p>\n

A police officer can ask you to take off your coat, jacket or gloves.<\/p>\n

The police might ask you to take off other clothes and anything you\u2019re wearing for religious reasons – for example a veil or turban. If they do, they must take you somewhere out of public view.<\/p>\n

If the officer wants to remove more than a jacket and gloves they must be the same sex as you.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The police can stop and question you at any time – they can search you depending on the situation. A police community support officer (PCSO) must be in uniform when Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57,"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/57"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/section31.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}