Caught in a Vicious Cycle: Where are we with Stop and Search?

Police in England and Wales are invested with specific legal powers to detain a person—who is not under arrest—and search them or their vehicle for unlawful items. The exercise of this coercive power has long been a source of tension and mistrust, particularly among minoritised and other marginalised communities, and has been repeatedly implicated among the causes of serious public disorder. Although concerns about the misuse of stop and search have created a recurring cycle of crisis and reform—stretching back over more than four decades—the fundamental problem remains unchanged. How did this happen and what should now be done about it? These questions will be addressed by considering how the policy problem has been framed over time, reviewing evidence on the impact of stop and search and identifying policy challenges associated with regulating the powers, including lessons that can be learnt from previous attempts at reform.