Recommendation number |
Recommendation |
Current position |
Further action required |
1 |
By 14th June 2024, chief constables should make sure their forces review the content of training on section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and how they provide it. The review should consider current national police curriculum requirements and the adequacy of force training for:
• officers who may be required to authorise section 60s; and
• officers who may be required to conduct section 60 stop and searches.
|
- As part of the initial training programme for student officers, S60 training is included in the Stop Search module.
- A S60 presentation is included in all response officer training days.
- Training consisting of a power point presentation and video has been issued to all uniformed inspectors to raise their knowledge and understanding of S60. This has been backed up with messages on the Force Intranet and Weekly Brief.
- All operational teams have been issued the video and presentation to be shown in briefings.
- Checklists have been provided for Authorising Officers, to follow and complete when authorising a S60. Completion of the checklist is mandatory, and it will be retained on the Niche record.
- A PowerPoint explaining S60 and the Act is available to all on SharePoint.
|
By 1st April 2024 the Lead for Stop Search will check briefing compliance with all the shift Inspectors, to ensure all uniformed officers have received a briefing and this has been recorded.
Action complete – all response officers have received a S60 stop search input and all remaining operational officers have been shown a training presentation by their inspectors.
|
3 |
By 14th June 2024, chief constables should make sure briefing and debriefing arrangements for their force's activities under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 are thorough and in line with Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code A and authorised professional practice content and guidance. Chief constables must make sure section 60 authorisation briefings are recorded. This may be as a written briefing. But formal verbal section 60 authorisation briefings should be given on audiovisual devices such as body-worn video or approved handheld communication devices. They should be capable of being recorded as part of the policing operation and be subject to scrutiny.
Section 60 briefings to officers who are required to use their stop and search powers should include information on:
- the relevant law and guidance;
• the particular grounds for authorising the use of section 60 stop and search powers;
- all relevant and current information and intelligence;
- the geographical area covered and time limitations authorised;
- all relevant community information (including policing history) and any community impact assessment;
- how any debriefing and force learning will be conducted; and
- the importance of recording all section 60 stop and search encounters on body-worn video in their entirety.
|
- The Force Stop Search policy details the process of requesting authorisation to use S60 and how the request should be stored, whether approved or not, to maintain organisation memory.
- A flow chart has been created for Authorising Officers to follow to ensure compliance with the Act.
- A S60 briefing document is included in the Niche templates and on the Stop Seach SharePoint site. The briefing incorporates the requirements as stated in the recommendation.
- All S60 briefings, use the briefing document and the briefing is recorded on Body Worn Video (BWV) and linked to the Niche record.
- On completion of a S60 authorisation a formal debrief takes place with the authorising officers to identify any organisational learning.
|
By 30th April 2024 the Lead for Stop Search will update the Stop Search policy to provide instruction around the briefing process.
Action complete – policy updated and published both internally and externally on the Force website.
|
4 |
By 14th June 2024, chief constables should make sure all officers who may exercise stop and search powers understand, and comply with, their responsibility to safeguard children who are stopped and searched.
In doing so, chief constables should make sure that:
- in line with the national policing curriculum, officers undertaking searches are appropriately trained to take the necessary steps to minimise any emotional harm that may be caused through these encounters;
- their force has processes in place to assist appropriate safeguarding referrals when children are stopped and searched; and
- there is robust checking and assessment of all such searches that takes account of the safety and welfare needs of the child.
|
- The Force’s Stop search policy includes a section about searching children and young people, advising officers when to carry out safeguarding. This has also been reiterated in the training given to officers.
- Section 60 briefings and searches are recorded on BWV. These can be reviewed by the Force’s community led stop search scrutiny panels to check and assess how our officers deal with young people during a stop search.
- To date, and due to the small number of S60 stop searches carried out, no encounters have qualified for inclusion in the scrutiny process. However, the panel have reviewed an authority to implement a S60 in a specific area. This was discussed and it was unanimously agreed, by the panel, that the power should have been used.
- Force policy dictates that all stop searches are reviewed by a supervisor on submission by the completing officer. Any child encounters are checked to ensure appropriate safeguarding issues have been addressed.
|
|
5 |
By 14th June 2024, chief constables should make sure forces effectively communicate with communities and interested parties on the police use of section 60 stop and search powers.
This should include:
- making sure communications reach the communities most likely to be affected by the section 60 authorisation and checking their communication strategies were effective;
- publicising details to inform the public, give reassurance and maximise any deterrent effect; and
- reporting back to communities and interested parties on operational outcomes.
|
- Guidance within the authorisation templates highlights the need for community engagement.
- Community engagement is to continue before, during and after the S60 authority. The mandatory checklist includes details of who to engage with and by what means. All details are recorded on the Occurrence Enquiry Log (OEL) on Niche.
- The formal debrief will be used to identify what methods worked well to inform future authorisations.
|
|
7 |
By 14 June 2024, chief constables should satisfy themselves that their force gives community scrutiny panels (or their equivalents) all relevant information to help them scrutinise police stop and searches and other police actions arising from section 60 authorisations.
This should include:
- the grounds and underlying reasons for the authorisations;
- any recordings of briefings;
- written records of searches;
- information about the outcomes of searches; and
- body-worn video footage of entire encounters.
In addition, chief constables should satisfy themselves that their force incorporates feedback from community scrutiny panels (or their equivalents) when evaluating and improving the force’s use of section 60.
|
- The Force external scrutiny panels for Stop Search and Use of Force take place bi-monthly rotating around the Force’s 4 districts. The panels are made up of members of the public who apply to take part. Training is provided at the start of the meeting to help them understand the stop search requirements and help them give informed feedback and judgements. An officer is present to take questions and explain anything in addition.
- Section 60 searches will be included in these panels which will include viewing the briefing filmed on BWV.
- A report from each session is published internally and externally on the Force website. The report includes the volunteers feedback and learning points which are reported into the Force Stop Search Meeting, headed by a superintendent, and used to improve how the Force treats the public. Feedback is given to the officers involved in the incidents as directed by the panel.
- The Force Stop Search meeting also considers complaints and identifies lessons learned in order to make improvements to the process. Any concerns or issues are referred up the governance process to the Confidence and Local Policing Board, which is chaired by an Assistant Chief Constable.
|
|
8 |
By 14 June 2024, chief constables and where applicable police and crime commissioners (or equivalents) should make sure their forces work in partnership with community scrutiny panels (or their equivalents) to:
- review panel membership and vetting arrangements to remove any unnecessary barriers to recruiting panel members;
- promote the recruitment of culturally diverse members, with a particular focus on representing, involving and retaining those from under-represented communities and young people;
- promote the representation, involvement and retention of those who have been stopped and searched;
- make sure the force gives community scrutiny panels information on the police use of force, including handcuffing, relevant to the police use of stop and search powers;
- make sure they support and help community scrutiny panels to review section 60 authorisations, searches, community impact assessments and associated complaints;
- give members appropriate training and support to help them effectively carry out their role scrutinising all stop and searches, taking account of the effect the role could have on them; and
- provide the right level of police representation at panel meetings to support and advise as required, and to make sure the panel’s feedback helps to improve both individual officer and organisational learning.
|
- The Force advertises for members of the public to apply to join the panels. Individuals are vetted to the minimum level possible, not as a barrier but to, for example, prevent the attendance of active criminals or people with clear links to organised crime groups.
- The volunteers are representative of the local community. To ensure they are as diverse as possible; in addition to advertising on our force website and social media, we also recruit through our Independent Advisory Groups, Key Individual Networks and most recently through our local university.
- Through our Youth Advisory Group, we conduct scrutiny on a smaller scale with information which is age appropriate for the attendees.
- The scrutiny panels have included individuals who have been stopped and searched; the views and experiences of all the panel members create discussion and understanding.
- Panel members are provided with an in person, 30-minute input on the essentials around both stop search and use of force, to help the panel give informed feedback.
- The Force has only recently started to discuss S60 with the panels, due to the low usage of the power, this shall become a regular agenda item as the use of the power increases.
Police attendance at the panels is kept to a minimum, 1 Chief Inspector and 1 Sergeant; both have significant experience in the tactics, legal requirements and application of both Stop Search and Use of Force. |
|
10 |
Within 56 days of the publication date of this report, forces should publish on their websites an explanation of how they have responded or will respond to them. |
Cleveland Police has published its initial review document in line with the timeframes required by the recommendations. |
A further update will be published by 14th June to show the progress the Force has made against the further actions. |