Stopped in the street or in a vehicle
- Stopped and searched in the streetEngland & Wales
What police must tell you before a stop and search in England and Wales, which power they are using, and what you do and do not have to do. With the law quoted.
- Stopped while driving: when you must stop and name the driverEngland & Wales
Being stopped in a car is the situation where UK silence advice is most dangerous. You must stop, and you must say who was driving. The law, quoted.
- Do you have to give police your name?England & Wales
In England and Wales there is no general duty to give police your name or address — but there are specific exceptions where refusing is an offence. Each one, with the law quoted.
- Police ask what you are doing: do you have to answer?England & Wales
Being stopped in the street and asked to account for yourself is not a search and not a detention. There is no general duty to answer, and no national record of it. The law, quoted.
- Can you refuse a roadside breath or drug test?England & Wales
Preliminary roadside tests and evidential specimens under the Road Traffic Act 1988 are two different stages, and refusing either without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. The law, quoted.
- Live facial recognition cameras: what the law actually saysEngland & Wales
Live facial recognition (LFR) is a real, largely lawful police power in England and Wales. There is no general offence of avoiding a camera — but a specific power can require you to uncover your face. The law, quoted.
- What is a Serious Violence Reduction Order (SVRO)?England & Wales
An SVRO is a court order, made on conviction, that lets a constable search a named person for weapons in public without needing grounds on that occasion. The law, quoted.
- Section 60: searched for weapons without grounds for suspicionEngland & Wales
Under a s.60 authorisation in England and Wales, a uniformed constable can search for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments without grounds to suspect you carry them.
- Stop and search in ScotlandScotland
Scotland ended non-statutory "consensual" stop and search. A search now needs an express statutory power or a warrant, under a statutory Code of Practice. The law, quoted.
- Stopped while driving in ScotlandScotland
The Road Traffic Act 1988 applies in Scotland too: you must stop when a constable in uniform requires it, and you must say who was driving. The law, quoted.