A series of stabbings on the streets of London has led to a renewed focus on knife crime and how to reduce it.
One power available to the police is stop and search, and Home Secretary Sajid Javid has recently emphasised its importance in tackling violence:
“If stop and search means that lives can be saved from the communities most affected, then of course it’s a very good thing,” he told the annual Police Superintendents’ Conference in September.
There are three main acts that allow police forces in England and Wales to carry out stop and searches.
- Section One of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
- Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
- Sections 44/47A of the Terrorism Act 2000