Rights and LimitsArrested and in custodyStrip searches and intimate searches in custody
Strip searches and intimate searches in custody
What you must do, and what you can refuse
Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.
You must
Refusing is a criminal offence.
Be searched by the custody officer to establish what you have with you — but only to the extent the custody officer considers necessary for that purpose.
This is the ordinary search under s.54 PACE. It is not a strip search and not an intimate search — those need their own separate authorisation and carry extra safeguards, covered elsewhere on this page.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.54(6)
“a person may be searched if the custody officer considers it necessary to enable him to carry out his duty under subsection (1) above and to the extent that the custody officer considers necessary for that purpose”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Have clothes or personal effects seized where the custody officer believes you might use them to injure yourself or someone else, damage property, interfere with evidence, or escape — or where there are reasonable grounds to believe they are evidence of an offence.
Seizure under s.54 is tied to one of these specific reasons, not a general power to keep whatever is taken off you.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.54(4)
“Clothes and personal effects may only be seized if the custody officer— a believes that the person from whom they are seized may use them— to cause physical injury to himself or any other person; ii to damage property; iii to interfere with evidence; or iv to assist him to escape; or b has reasonable grounds for believing that they may be evidence relating to an offence.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Be strip searched — the removal of more than your outer clothing, including your shoes and socks — once an officer reasonably considers you might have concealed an article you would not be allowed to keep.
It should not happen routinely — only where there is a specific reason to think something is concealed.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraphs 9 and 10
“A strip search is a search involving the removal of more than outer clothing. In this Code, outer clothing includes shoes and socks.— A strip search may take place only if it is considered necessary to remove an article which a detainee would not be allowed to keep and the officer reasonably considers the detainee might have concealed such an article. Strip searches shall not be routinely carried out if there is no reason to consider that articles are concealed.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Be strip searched only by an officer of the same sex as you.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraph 11(a)
“a police officer carrying out a strip search must be the same sex as the detainee”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Be strip searched somewhere you cannot be seen by anyone who does not need to be there, and not by anyone of the opposite sex except an appropriate adult you have specifically asked to be there.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraph 11(b)
“the search shall take place in an area where the detainee cannot be seen by anyone who does not need to be present, nor by a member of the opposite sex (see Annex L) except an appropriate adult who has been specifically requested by the detainee”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Have at least two people present, other than you, if the strip search involves exposure of intimate body parts — unless it is genuinely urgent because of a risk of serious harm to you or someone else.
If you are under 18 or a vulnerable person, one of those two must be your appropriate adult.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraph 11(c)
“except in cases of urgency, where there is risk of serious harm to the detainee or to others, whenever a strip search involves exposure of intimate body parts, there must be at least two people present other than the detainee, and if the search is of a juvenile or vulnerable person, one of the people must be the appropriate adult”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Not have more than two people present during a strip search, beyond an appropriate adult, except in the most exceptional circumstances.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraph 11(c)
“The presence of more than two people, other than an appropriate adult, shall be permitted only in the most exceptional circumstances”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
An intimate search is legally defined as a search which consists of the physical examination of a body orifice other than your mouth.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.65(1) — "intimate search" defined
“intimate search— means a search which consists of the physical examination of a person's body orifices other than the mouth”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Be intimately searched once an inspector has authorised it on reasonable grounds that you may have concealed something you could use to injure yourself or someone else.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.55(1)(a)
“if an officer of at least the rank of inspector has reasonable grounds for believing— that a person who has been arrested and is in police detention may have concealed on him anything which— he could use to cause physical injury to himself or others”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Or be intimately searched where an inspector has reasonable grounds to believe you have a Class A drug concealed on you that you were in possession of with the appropriate criminal intent before your arrest.
“The appropriate criminal intent” is defined elsewhere in PACE as an intent to supply the drug to someone else or to export it — a belief that you had simply taken it is not, on its own, this ground.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.55(1)(b)
“that such a person— may have a Class A drug concealed on him; and ii was in possession of it with the appropriate criminal intent before his arrest, he may authorise an intimate search of that person”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
If the search is only about a suspected Class A drug, have it carried out by a registered medical practitioner or registered nurse — the exception that lets a police officer carry out an intimate search applies only to the other ground, not this one.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraph 3
“An intimate search may only be carried out by a registered medical practitioner or registered nurse, unless an officer of at least inspector rank considers this is not practicable and the search is to take place under paragraph 2(a)(i), in which case a police officer may carry out the search.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
If a police officer does carry out an intimate search on the injury-risk ground, have that officer be the same sex as you, with at least two people present, and no one there whose presence is not necessary.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraph 6
“the officer must be of the same sex as the detainee (see Annex L). A minimum of two people, other than the detainee, must be present during the search. Subject to paragraph 5, no person of the opposite sex who is not a medical practitioner or nurse shall be present, nor shall anyone whose presence is unnecessary.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
If you are under 18 or a vulnerable person, have an appropriate adult of the same sex present for an intimate search at a police station, unless you specifically ask for a particular appropriate adult of the opposite sex who is available.
PACE Code C (2023), Annex A, paragraph 5
“An intimate search at a police station of a juvenile or vulnerable person may take place only in the presence of an appropriate adult of the same sex (see Annex L), unless the detainee specifically requests a particular appropriate adult of the opposite sex who is readily available.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Lawful to refuse — but it costs you
Not an offence, but it carries a penalty or an inference.
Refuse consent to a drug-offence intimate search without good cause — but a court or jury, including in deciding whether you have a case to answer and whether you are guilty, may draw such inferences from that refusal as appear proper.
A drug-offence intimate search cannot go ahead at all without your written consent — but refusing it is not risk-free, which is why it sits here rather than under what you may refuse.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.55(13A)
“Where the appropriate consent to a drug offence search of any person was refused without good cause, in any proceedings against that person for an offence— a the court, in determining whether there is a case to answer; b a judge, in deciding whether to grant an application made by the accused under paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (applications for dismissal); and c the court or jury, in determining whether that person is guilty of the offence charged, may draw such inferences from the refusal as appear proper.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Refuse consent to an x-ray or ultrasound scan for a suspected swallowed Class A drug without good cause — but a court or jury may draw the same kind of inference from that refusal at trial.
An x-ray or scan cannot be carried out without your written consent either — this is one of the few points in custody where refusal is a genuine choice, but it is not a free one.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.55A(9)
“If the appropriate consent to an x-ray or ultrasound scan of any person is refused without good cause, in any proceedings against that person for an offence— a the court, in determining whether there is a case to answer, b a judge, in deciding whether to grant an application made by the accused under paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (applications for dismissal), and c the court or jury, in determining whether that person is guilty of the offence charged, may draw such inferences from the refusal as appear proper.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-02
Three different searches, not one
People tend to use “they searched me” to describe three legally distinct things, and the safeguards attached to each are different:
- An ordinary search under s.54 PACE — the custody officer establishing and, where necessary, taking away what you have with you.
- A strip search — the removal of more than your outer clothing. This does not involve any physical examination inside your body.
- An intimate search under s.55 PACE — a physical examination of a body orifice other than your mouth. This is the most intrusive of the three, and has the narrowest grounds and the highest authorisation.
A strip search is not a lesser version of an intimate search, and an intimate search is not simply a strip search that goes further. They are authorised differently, carried out differently, and recorded differently. This page deals with each in turn, plus x-rays and ultrasound scans, which are a fourth thing again.
The ordinary search: what the custody officer can do
A custody officer can have you searched to establish what you have with you, and can seize and retain things you have — but not for any reason: only if the officer believes you might use them to injure yourself or someone else, damage property, interfere with evidence, or escape, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe they are evidence of an offence.
This power stops well short of an intimate search: PACE states explicitly that an intimate search cannot be conducted under s.54 at all. If more than that ordinary search is proposed, it has to be authorised separately, under a different section, with its own safeguards — which is what the rest of this page is about.
A strip search: the safeguards
A strip search — removing more than your outer clothing, including your shoes and socks — is not something that can be done routinely “to be safe”. It is only lawful if an officer reasonably considers you might have concealed an article you would not be allowed to keep, and it is considered necessary to remove it.
Where one goes ahead, Code C Annex A sets out fixed safeguards:
- The officer carrying it out must be the same sex as you.
- It must take place somewhere you cannot be seen by anyone who does not need to be there, and not by anyone of the opposite sex — unless that is an appropriate adult you specifically asked for.
- If it involves exposure of intimate body parts, at least two people (other than you) must be present — except in genuine urgency, where there is a risk of serious harm to you or someone else.
- More than two people present, beyond an appropriate adult, is only allowed in the most exceptional circumstances.
- You should not normally be made to remove all your clothes at once — the guidance expects, for example, that you can dress your upper body again before removing anything else.
If something is found inside a body orifice other than your mouth during a strip search and you will not hand it over, removing it stops being a strip search and becomes an intimate search — which then needs its own separate authorisation under s.55, covered below.
An intimate search: the narrow grounds
An intimate search — examination of a body orifice other than your mouth — can only be authorised by an officer of at least the rank of inspector, and only on one of two grounds:
- reasonable grounds to believe you have concealed something you could use to injure yourself or someone else; or
- reasonable grounds to believe you have a Class A drug concealed on you that you held with what PACE calls “the appropriate criminal intent” — in practice, an intent to supply it to someone else or export it, not simply having taken it.
Who actually carries it out depends on which ground applies. If it is only about a suspected Class A drug, it must be carried out by a registered medical practitioner or registered nurse — full stop. The one narrow exception that lets a constable carry out an intimate search applies only to the other ground, the concealed-injury-risk item, and only where a medical practitioner or nurse considers it impracticable. Where a police officer does carry one out on that basis, they must be the same sex as you, at least two people (other than you) must be present, and no one whose presence is not necessary is allowed to be there.
X-rays and ultrasound scans
Separately again, s.55A PACE lets an inspector authorise an x-ray or an ultrasound scan where there are reasonable grounds to believe you have swallowed a Class A drug that you held with the same appropriate criminal intent. Unlike a strip search or most intimate searches, this cannot go ahead without your written consent.
That makes it one of the few genuine choices in a custody suite — but not a free one. Refusing an x-ray or scan without good cause can be held against you at trial: a court or jury deciding your case is entitled to draw an adverse inference from that refusal. The same applies to withholding consent to a drug-related intimate search under s.55. Neither refusal is unlawful. Neither refusal is risk-free either, which is why both sit in the “costs you” column below rather than being presented as a right with no downside.
If you are under 18 or vulnerable
An appropriate adult must be treated as central to both kinds of search, not an optional extra:
- Strip search: where a juvenile or vulnerable person is strip searched and it involves exposure of intimate body parts, one of the (at least two) people present must be the appropriate adult — the only exception is genuine urgency, where there is a risk of serious harm.
- Intimate search: at a police station, an intimate search of a juvenile or vulnerable person may only happen with an appropriate adult of the same sex present, unless the detainee specifically asks for a particular appropriate adult of the opposite sex who is available.
Being young or vulnerable does not remove any of the other safeguards above — it adds this one on top.
What the record must show
A search that was not recorded properly is the one a later complaint can actually attack. For a strip search, the custody record has to show the reason it was considered necessary, who was present, and the result. For an intimate search, it has to show the authorisation, the grounds for it, which parts of your body were searched, who carried it out, who was present, and the result — and, where it was a drug-related search, the fact that you were warned and whether you consented.
If you make a complaint later, this is the paper trail your solicitor will ask for first. Its absence, or gaps in it, is evidence in itself.
Last reviewed 2026-09-02. Next review due 2027-03-02. No solicitor has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.