Some people who are stopped and searched by the police do not always know their rights. Why are you being stopped and do the police have the right to stop you?

There are three pieces of legislation that allow the Police to stop you:

• Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984)

• Justice and Security Act (Northern Ireland)

• Section 44 of the Terrorism Act (2000).

Each piece of legislation gives the police slightly different powers. (For more about each act, see our article Acts of Power.)

What Are Your Rights?

You have the right to get the police officer's name and badge number
The police officer should identify themself by name and number. You will need this information later if you ask for a report on why you were stopped.

You have the right to be treated respectfully by police officers
And they have the right to be treated respectfully by you. Even if you think there is no good reason to be stopped, you should act calmly.

You have the right to know under what legislation you are being stopped
The officer stopping you should tell you why you’ve been stopped for a search and under which law. This is important because most stop and search powers require the officer to have ‘reasonable suspicion’ that you have or are likely to commit a crime. There is an exception to that in Section 44 of the Terrorism Act.

You have the right to be searched by an officer of the same sex as you
If you are a male, you must be searched by a male. If you are a female, you must be searched by a female. If the officer stopping you is not of the same sex as you, they must wait for another officer to arrive who is.

You are only required to take off outer garments in a public place
If the search means you have to take off any other clothes, it must be done in private (for example in a police van). If this is the case, there must be more than one officer of the same sex present during the search.

You are entitled to a record of the search
The police officer who stops you should tell you that. You should be able to collect it from the officer at the time of the stop. If it is not possible to do that, the officer will ask you to go to a police station to collect your record.  The officer must tell you where to go to get the report. A record is only given to you after a search.  If you are stopped and questioned about who you are, where you have been and where you are going, you are not entitled to a record of the stop, because it didn’t include a search.

Whether you are searched or not, the officer should provide his or her shoulder or badge number for identification.

Have you ever been stopped by police? What were the circumstances? Did the officer act as described above? What changes would you like to see to the stop and search process? Share your thoughts.

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