WARWICKSHIRE Police is carrying out unnecessary ‘stop and searches’ according to a new report.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary say stop and search is an effective way to protect people but could often be intrusive, and should only be used when it was the best approach.
The force has the legal right to search residents in an effort to combat crime, including in the hunt for for drugs, weapons or stolen property.
Generally, stop and searches are used in public places – namely football matches or in neighbourhoods experiencing problems with vandalism.
But the report said: “HMIC found the force is not complying with all features of the best use of stop and search scheme.
“We have a number of concerns about how Warwickshire Police conducts and record instances of stop and search.
“Too many records do not contain sufficient reasonable grounds to stop and search a person and these are not being sufficiently identified or addressed by supervisors.”
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Ball said the criticism was “disappointing” and added moves were already being taken to address the concerns raised by HMIC regarding stop and search procedures.
