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A super-complaint made by the Criminal Justice Alliance in raised concerns about the harms caused by “suspicion-less” section 60 stop and searches and inadequate scrutiny of all stop and search powers.
A super-complaint is a complaint that 'a feature, or combination of features, of policing in England and Wales by one or more than one police force is, or appears to be, significantly harming the interests of the public' (section 29A, Police Reform Act 2002).
Following a joint investigation into these concerns, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the College of Policing (CoP) and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) published a report on 15 December 2023 which described how police forces should improve how they explain and evaluate their use of section 60.
The report made ten recommendations in total, six of which were applicable to chief constables, including that chief constables ensure that all officers understand and comply with their responsibility to safeguard children who are stopped and searched; forces communicate effectively with communities on the police use of section 60 stop and search powers; and briefings on section 60 operations are recorded and are subject to scrutiny.
The recommendations from the report were reviewed and accepted by the Chief Officer Group and added to the force’s HMICFRS action tracker on the date of publication.
In response to the report and its recommendations, the force then conducted a comprehensive review of current policy, procedure and practice and on completion, concluded that we complied with all recommendations.
We continue to update our communities, not only to show how we continue to carry out stop and search in a fair, effective and lawful way to detect crime and criminals, but also through scrutiny panels where members of the public can hold us to account.
Our 'We Value Our Communities' campaign informs and educates the public on this essential power, why we use it and how, and aims to dispel any myths around the use of Stop and Search.
We also provide updates, training and support internally to officers who use this important power to deter crime, and regularly put themselves in harm’s way on behalf of the public we serve.
All of this adds to the ongoing work to address issues such as disproportionality, the understanding of what stop and search is, and the further scrutiny of its use.
We will continue to review our processes and incorporate any best practice identified.