Policing Under Theresa May – Some Undeniable Truths

Last updated on September 20th, 2023 at 08:45 pm

Reading Time: 6 minutes

While I sit and ponder my future I found myself thinking about a couple of ‘Improvements’ that Theresa May has made to Policing.  My experience and knowledge is really linked to the Met, so if I say something which does not extend to your Force please forgive me, unlike Ms Khan, any unfair generalisations are not intention.

Back in 2011 she promised to cut Red Tape, whilst at the same time blaming Police Chiefs for that very same Red Tape

Just two months ago, she stated in the House that she had “cut red tape and freed the Police from Central Government control”  Is that what she calls it?

But, getting down to the Nitty Gritty, one of the most profound statements that she has made on practical policing was in relation to Stop and Search.

Firstly, the changes restrict the controversial “no suspicion” powers, which allow officers to stop and search members of the public even when they do not suspect a crime has been committed. This refers to s60 Stops, which in my experience were seldom used, and then mainly at Public Disorder, or occasionally sporting events. I’m not sure that is going to make a huge difference, but does shine a light on to Imelda’s way of thinking.

In the second measure forces will have to record the outcome of searches in more detail. 

Officers who carry out a stop and search will have to make a note of the outcome– such as whether it led to an arrest, a caution or no further action. 

The Home Office has previously reduced the complexity of paperwork required by stop and search after criticisms that it was overly bureaucratic and officers were being tied up with red tape.

Alex Marshall, chief constable of the College of Policing, said: “Stop and search powers are necessary to help us tackle crime and keep people safe but it is clear that they are being misused too often. 

“Under this scheme search outcomes will be recorded in more detail so we have a greater understanding of how the powers are being used.

Well, in my humble opinion this is just the College and the rest of AVPO (or whatever they’re called today) rolling over to have their bellies rubbed.

There is no doubt that Stop and Search is Intrusive, no doubt whatsoever! but unless someone has rewritten PACE while I’ve been asleep it has always contained the following;

1 Power of constable to stop and search persons, vehicles etc.

(1) A constable may exercise any power conferred by this section—

(a) in any place to which at the time when he proposes to exercise the power the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission; or

(b)in any other place to which people have ready access at the time when he proposes to exercise the power but which is not a dwelling.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) to (5) below, a constable—

(a) may search—

(i) any person or vehicle;

(ii) anything which is in or on a vehicle,

for stolen or prohibited articles [F1, any article to which subsection (8A) below applies or any firework to which subsection (8B) below applies; and

(b) may detain a person or vehicle for the purpose of such a search.

(3) This section does not give a constable power to search a person or vehicle or anything in or on a vehicle unless he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that he will find stolen or prohibited articles [F2, any article to which subsection (8A) below applies or any firework to which subsection (8B) below applies

2   Provisions relating to search under section 1 and other powers.

(1) A constable who detains a person or vehicle in the exercise—

(a) of the power conferred by section 1 above; or

(b) of any other power—

(i) to search a person without first arresting him; or

(ii) to search a vehicle without making an arrest,

need not conduct a search if it appears to him subsequently

(i) that no search is required; or

(ii) that a search is impracticable.

3  Duty to make records concerning searches.

(1) Where a constable has carried out a search in the exercise of any such power as is mentioned in section 2(1) above, other than a search—

(a) under section 6 below; or

(b)under section 27(2) of the M1Aviation Security Act 1982, he shall make a record of it in writing unless it is not practicable to do so.

(2) If—

(a) a constable is required by subsection (1) above to make a record of a search; but

(b )it is not practicable to make the record on the spot,

he shall make it as soon as practicable after the completion of the search.

(3) The record of a search of a person shall include a note of his name, if the constable knows it, but a constable may not detain a person to find out his name.

(4) If a constable does not know the name of a person whom he has searched, the record of the search shall include a note otherwise describing that person.

(5) The record of a search of a vehicle shall include a note describing the vehicle.

(6) The record of a search of a person or a vehicle—

(a) shall state—

(i) the object of the search;

(ii) the grounds for making it;

(iii) the date and time when it was made;

(iv) the place where it was made;

(v) whether anything, and if so what, was found;

(vi) whether any, and if so what, injury to a person or damage to property appears to the constable to have resulted from the search; and

(b) shall identify the constable making it.

(7) If a constable who conducted a search of a person made a record of it, the person who was searched shall be entitled to a copy of the record if he asks for one before the end of the period specified in subsection (9) below.

(8) If—

(a) the owner of a vehicle which has been searched or the person who was in charge of the vehicle at the time when it was searched asked for a copy of the record of the search before the end of the period specified in subsection (9) below; and

(b) the constable who conducted the search made a record of it,

the person who made the request shall be entitled to a copy.

There’s a whole load more to PACE than that, but in my submission, that is our first Undeniable Truth, Stop and Search under s1 PACE is already regulated sufficiently by statute and if the perception is that this power is being abused then this is surely a Supervision or Training issue, not something for Politicians to meddle in.

My second concern, to the best of my knowledge, only concerns the Met, but if the same practice has happened in the County Forces please let me know, as we would all need t know.

When I last worked on a Borough, I worked in an Intelligence Unit, and it was an important part of my job to produce briefings 5 days out of 7 for the 3 main shifts, Early, Lates and Nights.  These briefings would contain details of recent crimes of note, any Crime Patterns that had been identified by the Analyst, names and/or descriptions of any suspects for those crimes including photos if applicable, and recommendations for where any ‘spare’ officers could be posted to Prevent or Detect Crime (I know there aren’t any Spare officers any more).  It was on the basis of these briefings that many s1 Stop and Searches may have been conducted in ‘Hotspot’ areas.

Word has now reached my ears that these Intelligence Units at Divisional and Borough level have gone, been Winsor’d, labelled as Back Office functions and dissolved.  There is a Service Intelligence Unit staffed by some faceless warriors in Central London, but how effective can they be at preparing meaningful and timely briefings for troops in Croydon, or Barnet?

Time spent chatting with the old ‘Collator’ was seldom wasted for a good Thief-Taker, chats in a cosy over office over a brew were often productive, and, within limits, to be encouraged.  Even the next generation following on from Collators had crowds of enthusiastic young bucks picking brains in the quest for their next ‘body’. I don’t see anything wrong with that, as long as the privilege isn’t abused, but again, Post May/Winsor there probably isn’t the time left for such luxuries.

So, in the era of Smaller, Smarter Policing, how exactly are we supposed to function more Smartly when May and Winsor have taken away our Intelligence Units.  If this is not true PLEASE let me know, it’s important to me to know.

Intelligence-Led Policing With No Intelligence Unit – that would work every time.  Bloody good job Crime Is Down is all I can say.

Our Second Undeniable Truth?  The absence of Intelligence Units at a local level adversely impacts upon our ability to fight crime in an efficient and timely manner?

Lastly, I need to go back to Stop and Search again.  I often hear rumours that Sergeants and Inspectors in the Met (not necessarily only the Met) set their troops numerical targets as a Performance Indicator for their Appraisals.  How can this be right?

As we have seen above before a Stop/Search be conducted there has to be Suspicion and Grounds. I’ve scoured PACE thoroughly but I can’t find performance Indicators listed as suitable grounds to conduct a Stop/Search.

Stop/Search is clearly a very emotive subject and if there are abuses of the powers then these need to be addressed, but NOT by watering down the powers, of course Turkeys are not going to vote for Christmas but I truly believe that if Mr or Mrs Average is subjected to a Stop/Search by an officer who was polite, explained their actions and complied with the provisions above, then they would neither Complain nor Need to Complain.  Do we need to pay undue heed to the Turkeys complaining that Christmas is coming and they don’t want to be slaughtered?

My 3rd and last Undeniable Truth is that Numerical targets have no place in Stop/Search in particular, and quite possibly Front Line Policing in general, it breeds bad habits.  Any Stop/Search conducted in pursuit of such Targets is, at best, Unethical, and at most, arguably Unlawful.

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15 thoughts on “Policing Under Theresa May – Some Undeniable Truths”

  1. My targets are called “expectations” and if not reached then punishment is threatened. I don’t always get my expectations each month and nothing has happened so far.Could it be because i’m an old sweat and don’t give a damn what will happen,or because my supervisors realise they cannot use discipline for not reaching these targets-whoops sorry expectations.!! Who knows?

  2. My targets are called “expectations” and if not reached then punishment is threatened. I don’t always get my expectations each month and nothing has happened so far.Could it be because i’m an old sweat and don’t give a damn what will happen,or because my supervisors realise they cannot use discipline for not reaching these targets-whoops sorry expectations.!! Who knows?

  3. The police always use the language of sheer hypocrisy when it comes to Stop and Search Powers. They don’t want the powers numerated (of course not! Too many blacks and Asians stopped) but they don’t want the powers taken away either, even though 90% of all Stop and Searches do not lead to Arrest. I for one want to see the Police stripped of nearly all powers – the power to harm; the power to taser; and the power to harrass people by Stop and Search. In September I went to a talk at my Uni: the Supt giving the talk on Stop and Search tried to argue that the reason his force had been told off for stopping and searching black people 7 times more than even the national average was due to two reasons (neither of which accepted racism); the 1st reason he gave was that his coppers were relunctant to complete the paperwork for white people; the 2nd reason he gave was that the majority of crime in his area was due to one black family. Neither excuse added up to the real fact that only in 0.01% of all stop and searches was anyone actually ever arrested. He then went on the rhetoric (a bit like you) the blah blah blah speak of how the police need these powers, how they do so much good etc etc… I argued against this, saying that I didn’t think those being stop and searched would agree. At this the Head of Department – middle class and white (of course) said ‘I don’t think you’ll find the people of this borough complaining about people being stopped on a Friday night if they think this will curb drugs in this area’ to which I replied ‘That’s the wrong response – the response should be: would you mind being stop and searched every single Friday night when you were on your way home’? He blushed and then shut up. Because lets be completely honest. He knew the police would never ever stop him, not only because he runs one of the major policing courses in this country but becuase the police are not going to stop white middle class suited males: they stop the stereotypes that form images in their brains – the ones who wear hoodies; the ones with black skin – or Asian skin but no those who don’t fit their image. I have never met a black or Asian person who has not at some point been stopped by the police – but I can guarantee, like my HOD, most white people cannot say they same. Go figure.

    1. As I have said before, everyone is entitled to their view, and I am entitled not to agree with yours. Blacks and Asians are NOT the only ethnic groups to get Stopped and Searched, Whites DO get Stopped and Searched, and I will maintain the view that there are often good reasons why a particular Ethnic Group would be ‘targeted’, reasons which you will undoubtedly be unaware of as you weren’t privvy to the officers’ briefing. You clearly find it acceptable to condemn whilst not in possession of all the facts

  4. The police always use the language of sheer hypocrisy when it comes to Stop and Search Powers. They don’t want the powers numerated (of course not! Too many blacks and Asians stopped) but they don’t want the powers taken away either, even though 90% of all Stop and Searches do not lead to Arrest. I for one want to see the Police stripped of nearly all powers – the power to harm; the power to taser; and the power to harrass people by Stop and Search. In September I went to a talk at my Uni: the Supt giving the talk on Stop and Search tried to argue that the reason his force had been told off for stopping and searching black people 7 times more than even the national average was due to two reasons (neither of which accepted racism); the 1st reason he gave was that his coppers were relunctant to complete the paperwork for white people; the 2nd reason he gave was that the majority of crime in his area was due to one black family. Neither excuse added up to the real fact that only in 0.01% of all stop and searches was anyone actually ever arrested. He then went on the rhetoric (a bit like you) the blah blah blah speak of how the police need these powers, how they do so much good etc etc… I argued against this, saying that I didn’t think those being stop and searched would agree. At this the Head of Department – middle class and white (of course) said ‘I don’t think you’ll find the people of this borough complaining about people being stopped on a Friday night if they think this will curb drugs in this area’ to which I replied ‘That’s the wrong response – the response should be: would you mind being stop and searched every single Friday night when you were on your way home’? He blushed and then shut up. Because lets be completely honest. He knew the police would never ever stop him, not only because he runs one of the major policing courses in this country but becuase the police are not going to stop white middle class suited males: they stop the stereotypes that form images in their brains – the ones who wear hoodies; the ones with black skin – or Asian skin but no those who don’t fit their image. I have never met a black or Asian person who has not at some point been stopped by the police – but I can guarantee, like my HOD, most white people cannot say they same. Go figure.

    1. As I have said before, everyone is entitled to their view, and I am entitled not to agree with yours. Blacks and Asians are NOT the only ethnic groups to get Stopped and Searched, Whites DO get Stopped and Searched, and I will maintain the view that there are often good reasons why a particular Ethnic Group would be ‘targeted’, reasons which you will undoubtedly be unaware of as you weren’t privvy to the officers’ briefing. You clearly find it acceptable to condemn whilst not in possession of all the facts

  5. Stopped and searched a well known individual as I “had reasonable grounds to suspect!” Negative search a fee days later had a nice e-mail from a DS asking for a statement as my search puts him in the area near a burglary that they are forensically linked to! Destroying any concocted excuse they could provide! May would want me to do this as it results in more person put in an expensive prison and less burglaries!

  6. Alan,

    Code A of PACE has been changed with the issue of a new document in 2014 and takes effect very soon in 2015:

    HMG says: The main changes in the revised Code implement the government’s commitment, as set out in the Consultation on Stop and Search to “Revise the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code of Practice A to make clear what constitutes ‘reasonable grounds for suspicion’ – the legal basis upon which police officers carry out the vast majority of stops. The revised Code will also emphasise that where officers are not using their powers properly they will be subject to formal performance or disciplinary proceedings”.

    Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-0212014-police-and-criminal-evidence-act-1984-pace-codes-of-practice-revision-to-code-a-stop-and-search

    There are some within policing who feel the changes to ‘reasonable suspicion’ will NOT now change how the power has been used – after extensive training, new recording practices (often electronic, not written), closer supervision and external oversight.

    Whether the general public make use of the criem data and now Stop & Search data available online on http://www.police.uk/ is unknown.

    The “proof will be in the pudding” and perhaps in six months time the sue of Stop & search will have dropped further.

    It is remarkable local to where I live the power is used LESS than once a month by each operational officer and whole swathes of the area rarely see the power used. In a nearby area, based on a council ward, there were around 150 crimes and 11 stops in a month.

    1. Thank you for that, I was unaware of that I must confess. Stop/Search is used widely in London, but I honestly don’t think inappropriately. Policing London is much different to a more rural setting, but thank you for the update, I’m obliged

    2. There is no correlation – and never has been to crimes and stop and search. In fact, the opposite is true with crime figures showing that the most people ever arrested proportionally to those stop and searched was 10% and of them only 1% charged. So the fact that stop and search is not carried out as much bears no relation whatseover to your 150 crimes. Nice try. Won’t wash with those with any knowledge of policing or crime stats!

      1. I feel privileged to be lectured by someone with more knowledge and experience of Policing and Crimestats than I have. My 30 years were obviously a total waste of time. Thank you and goodbye

  7. Alan,

    Code A of PACE has been changed with the issue of a new document in 2014 and takes effect very soon in 2015:

    HMG says: The main changes in the revised Code implement the government’s commitment, as set out in the Consultation on Stop and Search to “Revise the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code of Practice A to make clear what constitutes ‘reasonable grounds for suspicion’ – the legal basis upon which police officers carry out the vast majority of stops. The revised Code will also emphasise that where officers are not using their powers properly they will be subject to formal performance or disciplinary proceedings”.

    Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-0212014-police-and-criminal-evidence-act-1984-pace-codes-of-practice-revision-to-code-a-stop-and-search

    There are some within policing who feel the changes to ‘reasonable suspicion’ will NOT now change how the power has been used – after extensive training, new recording practices (often electronic, not written), closer supervision and external oversight.

    Whether the general public make use of the criem data and now Stop & Search data available online on http://www.police.uk/ is unknown.

    The “proof will be in the pudding” and perhaps in six months time the sue of Stop & search will have dropped further.

    It is remarkable local to where I live the power is used LESS than once a month by each operational officer and whole swathes of the area rarely see the power used. In a nearby area, based on a council ward, there were around 150 crimes and 11 stops in a month.

    1. Thank you for that, I was unaware of that I must confess. Stop/Search is used widely in London, but I honestly don’t think inappropriately. Policing London is much different to a more rural setting, but thank you for the update, I’m obliged

    2. There is no correlation – and never has been to crimes and stop and search. In fact, the opposite is true with crime figures showing that the most people ever arrested proportionally to those stop and searched was 10% and of them only 1% charged. So the fact that stop and search is not carried out as much bears no relation whatseover to your 150 crimes. Nice try. Won’t wash with those with any knowledge of policing or crime stats!

      1. I feel privileged to be lectured by someone with more knowledge and experience of Policing and Crimestats than I have. My 30 years were obviously a total waste of time. Thank you and goodbye

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