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Stop and Search

Stop and Search — Authorised Professional Practice

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Summary

This section of the Authorised Professional Practice (APP) provides comprehensive guidance on conducting fair and effective stop and search encounters. It outlines the importance of conducting these encounters in a manner that is fair, legal, professional, and transparent. Officers are advised on the legal basis for stop and search, ensuring that encounters adhere to the law, and emphasizes the need for professionalism during interactions with individuals. Furthermore, transparency is key, both in how these encounters are conducted and in how the outcomes are recorded. The quick reference guides within this section aim to assist officers in applying these principles in practice, serving to enhance public trust and confidence in policing methods.

Key principles

  • 1Fairness
  • 2Legality
  • 3Professionalism
  • 4Transparency

Defined terms

Stop and Search
Definition of a fair and effective stop and search encounter, how and why stop and search encounters should be fair, legal, professional and transparent.

Full guidance

Definition of a fair and effective stop and search encounter, how and why stop and search encounters should be fair, legal, professional and transparent

This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.

Frontline

Quick reference guides for the frontline summarising the more detailed content in a user friendly format:

Supervisors and senior officers

Quick reference guides summarising supervisor and senior officer responsibilities:

Supervisors and senior officers are also advised to familiarise themselves with the frontline tools.

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What is the reason for your answer?

Reproduced from the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice under the Open Government Licence v3.0, as captured on 2026-06-27. APP is amended over time — check the source link below for the current version. This is a reference, not operational authorisation.

APP is the authoritative source for UK policing practice and is updated over time. For the current, official version — including any operational detail not reproduced here — go direct.

Read the full APP guidance

Source: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.