Powers and procedures

Below you will find further examples of local and national work ongoing across policing and the wider criminal justice system in this workstream to deliver an anti-racist police service.

We will continue to share promising practice and ideas we come across, as well as encouraging forces to submit their initiatives onto the College of Policing’s Practice Bank so these can undergo an evaluation process. For more information please contact the relevant force or email our team.

The Practice Bank is made up of shared interventions that have been implemented by crime reduction and community safety organisations, including policing. These have been used to address specific crime problems or organisational change. 

Bedfordshire Police worked with a community scrutiny panel to better understand and explain the data behind stop and search in its force area.

The force was also the pilot area for development of a toolkit by its community use of force scrutiny panel, for use by other panels when assessing body worn videos to establish if the correct level of force was used, and how to provide officers with consistent and constructive feedback.

British Transport Police has brought together diverse community panels to deliver dynamic scrutiny of large events like the Notting Hill Carnival.

BTP has put in place an innovative system of community scrutiny of stop and search, through a partnership with the University of Law. This has led to young people from Black and other global majority backgrounds getting involved in scrutiny of stop and search. BTP's use of force reports are scrutinised in public meetings held by the Police Standards and Integrity Committee (PSIC) of their Police Authority Board. These meetings are live streamed on YouTube. Each use of force is recorded on a digital use of force report and scrutinised for trends, which are referred to their Independent Advisory and Scrutiny Group and to the Police Standards and Integrity Committee.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary developed cards with a QR code that were given to the subject after a stop and search. The QR code linked to an explanation of stop and search powers, a person’s entitlements, and an invitation to join the community scrutiny panel. Forces such as West Midlands Police use a similar scheme.

Hampshire Constabulary used education and advocacy with young people to collaboratively address disproportionate use of stop and search on people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and the negative impact this has on public engagement with the police.

Kent Police undertook widespread consultation as part of its efforts to embed greater understanding of body worn video across its workforce.

These initiatives were highlighted in our practice brochure published in October 2025. You can read the brochure online for more information about each initiative.

British Transport Police (BTP) has focused on collecting, analysing, and using data to uncover and address disparities, particularly in stop and search practices. BTP uses detailed dashboards to empower supervisors and professional standards teams to monitor individual officers, assess find rates, and review stop and search grounds. One major success has been reducing the number of stop and searches where self-defined ethnicity (SDE) is not recorded. By mandating supervisor review of body-worn video for each missing SDE case, BTP lowered non-reporting rates to well below the national average.

Over the past year, Cheshire Constabulary has delivered a Stop and Search improvement plan focused on better outcomes for Black people and those from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Key areas identified for improvement included quality assurance, scrutiny, ethnicity data collection, training, and performance management. 

Dorset Police worked with Bournemouth University and Weymouth College to create a documentary to understand and learn more about the perceptions of policing, how Black communities view Dorset Police and what it can do to build trust, confidence and engagement. The force interviewed 10 people from ethnically diverse communities, with the majority being from the Black community, and collaborated with a local Afro-Caribbean radio station ‘Afro-Disiac’ in Bournemouth to utilise their studio and create a safe space for open and honest dialogue.

Dorset Police has developed a Use of Language Charter and Guide to confidently engage with diverse communities.

The Essex Police Independent Body Worn Video Review Panel was established to promote transparency and accountability in the use of police powers, particularly stop and search and use of force. Comprising diverse community representatives — including members of the Black community who also contribute to other Independent Advisory Groups — the panel plays a key role in external scrutiny. 

South Wales Police has an Independent Advisory Group (IAG) made up of a range of representatives from the communities we serve which acts as a critical friend and can be used as a sounding board for policy development and engage in regular scrutiny of our work in the areas of communities and partnerships, use of police powers, hate crime, PSD and workforce diversity issues. 

Sussex Police has revitalised community scrutiny through the CARE Team — Community Advocates for Reconciliation and Engagement — replacing the traditional Independent Advisory Group (IAG) model with a more dynamic and inclusive approach. This refresh addresses a key challenge: ensuring that community scrutiny of police powers is representative, informed, and impactful.

In West Yorkshire each child stop and search encounter is subsequently reviewed by its Early Action Hubs to assess risk and identify any safeguarding/vulnerability issues and opportunities for further intervention.

The projects below have been developed by police forces and other agencies. While not formally endorsed by the plan, hopefully they encourage ideas and discussion among those looking to deliver the plan's objectives, as well as showing the breadth of activity happening in policing.

The College of Policing has published guidance on restorative justice in policing, as well as an article on procedural justice in the context of stop and search.

A senior researcher at the college has also produced a journal article exploring the statistics behind stop and search and how this might help better understand and address disproportionality.

This study examines the unintended life-course consequences of being stopped by the police in England and Wales before age 14 using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. It investigates the predictors of early police contact and their associations with outcomes such as self-reported offending behaviour, academic achievement, and mental health over three years. Violent offending, knife carrying, non-violent offending, gang membership, alcohol use and cannabis use are linked to higher likelihoods of police contact by age 14.

The Derby city stop and search improvement project saw Derbyshire Constabulary work with the Derby city youth justice service to deliver a project which aimed to increase trust and confidence of children in the force, help children know their rights and allow police to better understand the experience of children who are stop and searched. Youth justice practitioners captured feedback from the young people they worked with and fed this back to police officers, while it has two youth panels which meet monthly to review stop and search footage, discuss communication, and challenge police practice. Local data shows that there have been overall reductions in reoffending, breaches and first-time entrants to the youth justice system in Derby, including amongst Asian British and Black children.

Dorset Police and Essex Police have developed some innovative strategies around stop and search, ranging from training and supervision through to reviewing the processes that lead to stops in the first place. The forces have published explanations and videos about the tactic and how it is monitored on their websites.

Bedfordshire Police has also had a major focus on stop and search. This has involved:

• Adding 'Explain' and 'Respect' to the common police acronym used to guide stop and search, Go Wisley.
• Every officer has been issued with 'know your rights' information cards that should be issued to every person subject of a stop and search. These cards can be viewed on the Knowledge Hub.
• A monthly stop and search analytical product is produced which provides operational context to stop and search, including significant crimes or crime series which may have influenced stop and search, as well as any specific community or intelligence led operations.
• Two leading professors were commissioned to undertake an academic study of disproportionality in stop and search in Bedfordshire.
• All frontline officers in Bedfordshire receive an annual CPD day in relation to stop and search, with key national and local themes the focus.

A further video featuring broadcaster Jaydee Dyer talking about his experience of being stopped and searched is available online.

Hertfordshire Constabulary has produced a video put together by both the force and members of its Race Inclusion Board that is used during stop and search training. The video highlights how it feels to be stopped and searched as a Black man and reiterates the importance of clear communication and cultural understanding.

The force also conducts disproportionality ‘deep dives’ to identify locations where there is apparent disproportionality and better understand the use of the relevant powers, to assess whether there are any behaviours displayed by the searching officers which would cause concern.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct published a learning report into stop and search in 2022. Several of its recommendations have been incorporated into the plan and wider work across policing, while examples of promising practice being delivered in forces were also identified during the process of compiling the report.

Merseyside Police has delivered specialist ‘Hydra’ training for stop and search, which has been identified as promising practice in independent reports and is scrutinised by local communities.

The Metropolitan Police has developed its stop and search charter. Designed in collaboration with local communities, it commits the force to supporting officers through improved training, more supervision and better access to technology so they can meet high standards. It also gives the community a greater role in the oversight of how, when and where stop and search is used.

The Met worked with the Haringey Youth Justice Service to deliver the safeguarding led stop and search project, ensuring all children who were stop and searched were viewed through a safeguarding lens. The project involved data sharing, audits of stop and searches, using first hand accounts from children and the creation of a stop and search safeguarding board. The project has also involved the promotion of anti-racist practice across London.

North Yorkshire Police has developed information dashboards in relation to service delivery, in particular stop and search and use of force. Each of these areas have a dashboard which provides up-to-date information around the actions and protected characteristics of those involved.

In South Wales Cwm Taf youth justice service has driven a major focus on giving young people diversionary activity when they first come into the criminal justice system, as opposed to other outcomes. Regular sessions were delivered to police stations and children’s homes to promote diversion activities over formal sanctions and closer working and early communications with police helped ensure far more cases were solved this way than any other area across South Wales. Less than 20 per cent of the young people given diversionary activity went on to reoffend.

South Yorkshire Police has developed an app to start recording vehicle stops, including self-defined ethnicity data, which will enable officers to understand any apparent disproportionality around the number of Black people who are subject to vehicle stops. This app uses the same technology already used in force to record stop and search data, which itself has been subject to recent improvements.

Sussex Police has used proactive scrutiny to identify and address disproportionality in stop and searches in an ongoing operation to reduce serious youth violence.

West Mercia Police aftercare policy ensures every child or young person is visited by a youth intervention officer within 10 days of being stopped and searched to explain why the search took place and to establish whether any further support can be offered.

West Yorkshire Police has developed a new traffic stop app that allows officers to record the ethnicity of people involved in traffic stops. The data this app provides allows the force to measure disproportionality and address any issues that become evident.

The College of Policing has developed new public and personal safety training to help officers de-escalate conflict without using force. The results of a year-long pilot project have shown promising results.

This study aims to explore public attitudes and experiences of stop and search in Wales. This collaboration with police across Wales will build the evidence base on public perceptions of, and attitudes towards, stop and search practices, as well as trust in the police. The research aims not only to improve relationships between police and communities, but also to create a sustainable framework for ongoing collaboration.

The Crown Prosecution Service’s research into case files resulted in some findings which are also relevant for policing. The study found a clear difference in the language used in case files by both police and prosecutors. While it did not find explicit racism or biases in the texts, more direct and definitive language was used in respect of mixed ethnicity suspects, their actions were described in more negative terms and more references were made to the violent nature of their offences.  

The CPS held a series of national scrutiny panels on joint enterprise homicide where stakeholders gave feedback on anonymised, completed cases. They have also set up a Pan-London Scrutiny and Involvement Panel on disproportionality. Drawing on this experience, and as part of its own CPS disproportionality action plan, the CPS has committed to creating similar Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panels across the country.