beatwise - The Norfolk Police website for young people

A police officer has the right to stop and speak to you at any time.

If an officer stops you in a public place and asks you to explain:

• what you are doing
• why you are behaving in a certain way
• why you are in that particular place
• why you have a particular item in your possession

Then this is known as a 'stop and account' because the officer has stopped you and asked you to account for yourself.

If an officer speaks to you it does not necessarily mean that they believe you have done anything wrong. The officer may be offering to help you, or may be asking for your help with something. If this is the case, it is not a stop and account.

A 'stop and search' happens if, you are stopped by an officer and they ask to see what is in your pockets or bag etc. This may happen if an officer suspects you are carrying:

• drugs
• stolen property

• weapons
• items which could be used to commit a crime

If an officer suspects that you are carrying drugs, an offensive weapon or stolen property, you can be searched in any public place.

If an officer suspects that you have committed a serious crime the police can stop and search you anywhere.

A Police officer can also stop any vehicle being driven on the road.
If you are stopped when driving you may be asked to take your driving licence, MOT certificate and insurance certificate to a police station or the officer may examine the vehicle to make sure it is safe to be on the road.

If you are stopped, you have the right to know:

the name of the officer who has stopped you

which police station they come from

the reason why they have stopped you.

The officer should tell you all of these things. The officer should also treat you with respect. Police officers have to fill out a form for every 'stop and account' and 'stop and search' that they do. To help the officer complete the form they will ask for details such as your name, address and date of birth.

There are three reasons why an officer has to complete a form:

So that they can give you a copy so that you know exactly why you have been stopped

So that the people who make sure that the police officers are doing their job properly can check that officers are only stopping people for the right reasons

So that information can be collected which can help the police to fight crime

Everyone wants to feel safe in their community. The police use 'stops' to help them prevent crimes and to detect crimes. By stopping someone, the police officer may discover the person is committing a crime or they may find out some information which will help them to prevent a crime happening in the future.

A police officer should only use stop and account or stop and search if they believe they have a good reason to do so.

If you are stopped by a police officer you should be treated fairly and with respect. If you are unhappy with how you were treated, you have the right to complain.

You can make your complaint by contacting Norfolk Constabulary

If you would prefer not to contact the police directly you can contact one of...

NORFOLK POLICE AUTHORITY:

INDEPENDENT POLICE COMPLAINTS COMISSION:

Or speak to someone at your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Find out more at www.stopandsearch.com