Stop and search review panel

We want to learn from public feedback, particularly on topics which can negatively impact certain members of our communities such as stop and search. With this in mind, we've set up a stop and search review panel.  

How the panel works

The panel meets every eight weeks and members of the public review officers' recent body worn video (BWV) recordings of stop and search incidents from across the county.

The videos always start from the moment officers turn on their cameras - usually on the way to the scene of any reported incident - and give members of the panel the chance to view the incident unfold.

The clips are from different locations and show stop searches conducted by officers with varying lengths of service and are chosen at random by the independent Chair. The panel reviews them against Essex Police policy to ensure that best practice has been followed. 

What happens next

After reviewing each video, the panel are able to discuss the videos together and ask any questions to the police officer present.

If there are clear breaches of policy, or any other concerns about conduct of officers, this is passed to senior officers within the relevant team and appropriate action is taken. We can then arrange for a senior officer to return to the next review panel to give a face-to-face update to the panel members.

Where appropriate to do so, we pass feedback to our training team so they can adapt our training for officers across the county.

We also share good practice and positive feedback with our officers to allow us to continue to learn together.

Watch the panel in action