Following recent speculation surrounding the easing of bureaucracy around police stop and search powers, both ACPO and the Police Federation have made statements:

 Ken Jones, ACPO President, said:

“Used fairly, Stop & Search has proven to be a powerful tool for tackling and preventing crime to the benefit of all. We need to look at using these powers more efficiently in ways that don’t undermine community confidence in policing. The same could be said for Stop & Account recording.

“ACPO is cooperating with the HMCIC Sir Ronnie Flanagan on ways of making stop and search less bureaucratic and process-laden. However, using these processes has gone a long way to reassuring vulnerable communities.

“We await the imminent findings of the Flanagan Report.”

Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, says: 

“Any moves to cut bureaucracy, restore the discretion police officers can exercise and inject some ‘common sense’ back into policing is to be welcomed. 

“Police officers should be accountable for actions they take, and these forms are as much about protecting officers as they are about protecting the public.

But officers should be allowed discretion as to when to record stop and encounters. Recording stop and search is different though, as it involves contact with people and is a statutory requirement, but common sense and discretion should prevail as to how much detail is required to be recorded.”