Page 32 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

GOWISELY

The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice guidance sets out
best practice for stops and searches in accordance with the following
principles, which are designed “to maximise the person’s understanding
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before starting the search”.

G A clear explanation of the officer’s grounds for suspicion,
e.g., info/intel or specific behaviour of person.
O A clear explanation of the object and purpose of the search
in terms of the article being searched for.

W Warrant card, if not in uniform or if requested.

I Identity of the officer(s): name and number or, in cases
involving terrorism or where there is a specific risk to the
officer, just warrant or collar number.
S Station to which the officer is attached.

E Entitlement to a copy of the search record within 3 months.

L Legal power used.

Y You are detained for the purposes of a search.

Drug-related searches

2.24 Suspicion of drug possession is one of the main reasons for a stop. The stop
rate for drugs per 1,000 people is 18.6 for Black people and 2.1 for White
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people, despite White people being more likely to be found with drugs. While
this could be accounted for by the fact that stop and search is used more often
in deprived areas (which have a higher proportion of Black residents) than

80 ‘Stop and Search: Professional’, College of Policing.
81 M. Shiner, Z Carre, R. Delsol and Niamh Eastwood, The Colour of Injustice: ‘Race’, drugs and law
enforcement in England and Wales, (StopWatch, Release and IDPU, 2018),p. 15.

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