header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
11 November 2020 / Neil Parpworth
Issue: 7910 / Categories: Features , Criminal , Procedure & practice , Covid-19
printer mail-detail

Stop & search: In search of improvement

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
31571
Neil Parpworth reports on the latest stop and search figures and calls for an intelligence led approach

In brief

  • Stop and search powers: PACE and associated legislation.
  • Headline figures: a significant increase in recorded stop and searches.
  • Impact of the pandemic: making greater use of powers?

Each year, towards the end of October, the Home Office publishes statistical data relating to the use of certain statutory powers by police forces in England and Wales. The period covered by the data adopts a financial year approach, ie the year ending 31 March. For present purposes, the focus of the discussion will be on the data relating to police use of powers to stop and search in 2019/20.

The powers

For data collection purposes, stop and searches are categorised as being made under either: s 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and associated legislation, eg s 23(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; s 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Keystone Law—Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel & Ian Hopkinson

Keystone Law—Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel & Ian Hopkinson

International arbitration team strengthened by double partner hire

Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine

Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine

Firm celebrates trio holding senior regional law society and junior lawyers division roles

Michelman Robinson—Sukhi Kaler

Michelman Robinson—Sukhi Kaler

Partner joins commercial and business litigation team in London

NEWS
Read All
Legal Action Group set out 2026 events calendar
The Legal Action Group (LAG)—the UK charity dedicated to advancing access to justice—has unveiled its calendar of training courses, seminars and conferences designed to support lawyers, advisers and other legal professionals in tackling key areas of public interest law
NLJ this week: 40 years on, has PACE lost its edge?
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
NLJ this week: Stress-testing the City
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
NLJ this week: Mandelson, Epstein & the court of popular opinion
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
NLJ this week: Volunteers, promotions & perilous appeals
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll