Stop and Search Powers: Are the police using them effectively and fairly?
The summer riots of 2011 once again focused attention on the way police use stop and search powers. As a result of this renewed concern, in December 2011 the Home Secretary commissioned HMIC to carry out an inspection into the use of stop and search legislation by police forces in England and Wales.
In our report, we found that police use of stop and search powers is too often ineffective in tackling crime and procedurally incorrect, thereby threatening the legitimacy of the police.