Stop & Search and Use of Force - External and Internal Scrutiny Meetings

Purpose

The effective use and application of Stop and Search and Use of Force powers by police are areas which rightly attract scrutiny as they involve police exercising intrusive and sometimes controversial powers, to maintain public safety and uphold law and order.

The fair and appropriate use of these powers is central to the legitimacy of policing and our ability to police by consent and maintain public confidence. We have quarterly external and internal meetings to review and oversee our use of these powers.

The External Scrutiny Panel is chaired independently and consists of a range of diverse community members. It reviews activity, including body worn video footage, and holds the Force leads to account.

The Internal Governance Board is chaired by the Force leads and reviews force-level and local-level activity, with attendance of key departmental and divisional senior leadership teams, who are accountable for the local activity which is analysed.

Meetings

Meetings take place quarterly. We will publish the minutes below.

Here are some of the main areas covered at the recent meetings, held in March 2025:

Use of Force on Under-18s

Both meetings focused on the rise in the use of force against under-18s, with a particularly notable increase in West and East Surrey divisions, and the impact of mental health issues and the use of force, especially in West Surrey, where 45% of cases involved mental health factors.

A pilot project led by the Force Mental Health Lead aims to reduce police involvement in situations where other services may be more appropriate. The need for better collaboration between police, NHS, and social care services was highlighted, as well as the importance of safeguarding referrals whenever force is used on young people.

We have recently mandated the completion of a safeguarding referral following any stop and search or use of force encounter with a person under the age of 18 to ensure that appropriate support is provided, relevant partner agencies are informed, and any vulnerabilities are addressed.

Reflective Practice and Officer Development

External Scrutiny Panel: The panel reviewed a case involving a stop and search in East Surrey division, where concerns were raised about an officer’s approach during the initial engagement. The officer reflected on the feedback, acknowledging areas for improvement such as better verbal communication of the grounds for searches.

The panel emphasised the value of reflective practice, where officers can learn from both positive and constructive feedback. It was also agreed that officers should receive recognition for positive performance, in addition to constructive feedback, to promote continuous development.

The police and the External Scrutiny Panel have jointly developed a Body Worn Video review form, where videos are assessed on a red, amber, green system. Positive performance factors and areas for development are recorded, and this feedback is shared with the officer to provide reflective feedback, which is then reviewed by the panel as a feedback loop.

To ensure structured oversight, the terms of reference for the External Scrutiny Panel have been strengthened, enabling the Panel’s concerns to be addressed at varying levels. This includes supervisor feedback, involvement by Strategic Leads, review by Professional Standards Department (PSD), or, in exceptional cases, escalating concerns to the Assistant Chief Constable (ACC).

Trends in Use of Force

Both meetings reviewed the overall increase in use of force forms, particularly noting the 18.2% rise in incidents involving under-18s. Notably there has been a 20% decrease in force applied to White individuals, while Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnicity individuals saw an increase of 18.2% in use of force.

TASER use decreased by 10%, though slightly increased for Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnicity individuals, which indicates a need for continued scrutiny. There remains in place high-level scrutiny on all TASER usage. Each division has a TASER SPOC, and a new lead oversees the use of TASER across the force. Every single use is also reviewed by the Tactical Lead for Use of Force to ensure that the written grounds clearly justify the use of TASER in the circumstances. If any incidents do not provide sufficient details to confirm that the use was proportionate and necessary, the feedback is directed to the officer, their supervisor, and the TASER SPOC for further action.

Mental health remains a key impact factor, especially in West Surrey. Ongoing efforts to address mental health-related incidents and reduce reliance on police intervention were discussed across both meetings.

Stop and Search Practices and Disproportionality

The meetings highlighted efforts to improve the quality of stop and search practices and reduce disproportionality. Divisions were encouraged to focus on proactive use of stop and search in a more effective way, to ensure stop and search powers are being used in an intelligence-led, problem-solving approach which delivers clear results; divisions were asked to report back on their work on this.

Specific teams were identified with higher stop and search disproportionality between Black and White people than other teams, including the three divisional proactive teams, and Neighbourhood teams in Guildford, Runnymede and Epsom; work was tasked to review and understand this. It was also raised that some teams had more examples of body worn video (BWV) not being used, in particular the divisional proactive teams; a cause of this was identified as officers in plain clothes using it less.

The need to have BWV and use it when in plain clothes was emphasised, and the divisional representatives were tasked with ensuring this was actioned.
Good performance was identified at North Surrey with a particularly higher find rate than elsewhere, with the representative from North Surrey division being asked to review why this is.

Improving Communication and Transparency in Stop and Search

External Scrutiny Panel: A key theme discussed was the need for clearer and more consistent communication between officers and the public during stop and search encounters. The panel noted that some searches were operationally valid but lacked transparency, causing confusion for those involved.

The need for officers to provide a clear explanation of the grounds for a stop and search was emphasised, particularly when explaining the connection between the subject and the vehicle or area being searched. This is being covered in the new training as part of procedural justice.