The Purpose of stop and search is to allow an officer to confirm or allay their suspicions about an individual without having to exercise their powers of arrest.

Although in recent years these powers have been seen as controversial they are still important and valuable powers however they must be used in an appropriate manner 

An officer may conduct a stop search if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual is in possession of a specific item as defined by relevant legislation. 

Reasonable grounds can be formed from multiple factors such as: 

• The actions of an individual;

• Words an individual has said;

• Information is given to the police.

However, there are some things that cannot be used to form reasonable grounds:

• An individuals Gender;

• An individuals Ethnicity;

• An individuals Appearance (Unless specific information relates to this);

• An individual's past convictions.  

Different legislation gives officers the power to search an individual for different things:

Section 1 Police and Criminal Evidence Act

• Offensive Weapons;

• Stolen Items;

• Items being used for theft or to cause criminal damage;

• Fireworks.

Section 23 Misuse of Drugs Act

• Drugs;

• Controlled substances.

Section 47 Firearms Act

• Firearms

• Ammunition.

When searching an individual there are certain things that the individual must be told and these can be placed into the acronym GO WISELY which stands for: 

G - Grounds for the Search;

O - Object that the officer is searching for;

W- An officer should display their warrant card if not in uniform, or requested;

I - The officer should identify themselves by Rank, Number, and Name; 

S- The station the officer is based at;

L- The legislation that the officer is using to perform the search; 

E- The fact that the individual is entitled to a copy of the search record;

Y - The suspect should be informed that they are detained for the purpose of a search.