Rights and LimitsStopped in the street or in a vehicleStopped and searched in the street

Stopped and searched in the street

Applies to: England & Wales. The law is materially different in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Does PACE apply in Scotland? Do not apply this page outside England and Wales.

Same topic in Scotland: Stop and search in Scotland

There is a short and simple version of this page. One idea per sentence, no legal words.

What you can refuse, what refusing costs you and what you are entitled to

Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.

You can refuse

Saying no is lawful and is not an offence, but it is not always free of consequences: read each item in full.

You are under no obligation to give your name, address or date of birth for a stop-and-search record.
PACE Code A says so in terms, and adds that you should not even be asked for it for that purpose. The separate anti-social-behaviour power is under “Refusing costs you”.
PACE Code A (2023), paragraph 4.3
“The person is under no obligation to provide this information and they should not be asked to provide it for the purpose of completing the record.”
Read it at gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25

Refusing costs you

Refusing may carry a penalty, allow an inference to be drawn against you, or be an offence in itself.

Refusing, or giving a false or inaccurate name or address, once that requirement is properly made is an offence carrying a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale.
This is the exception that catches people out — it converts an ordinary street stop into a situation where silence is chargeable.
Police Reform Act 2002, s.50(2)
“fails to give his name and address when required to do so under subsection (1) — gives a false or inaccurate name or address in response to a requirement under that subsection — is guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-14

You are entitled to

Safeguards the law gives you: what you can ask for, and what is to be done for you. Some apply only if you ask, and some have limits or can be delayed.

If the officer is not in uniform, you are entitled to documentary evidence that they are a constable — and the search must not begin until that duty, and the other pre-search duties, have been performed.
This is arguably the most important protection in the whole section: it is what lets someone stopped by a plain-clothes officer demand proof they are police before anything else happens.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.2(2)-(3)
“it shall be his duty, subject to subsection (4) below, to take reasonable steps before he commences the search to bring to the attention of the appropriate person—if the constable is not in uniform, documentary evidence that he is a constable; and—whether he is in uniform or not, the matters specified in subsection (3) below;—and the constable shall not commence the search until he has performed that duty.—The matters referred to in subsection (2)(ii) above are—the constable’s name and the name of the police station to which he is attached;—the object of the proposed search;—the constable’s grounds for proposing to make it; and—the effect of section 3(7) or (8) below, as may be appropriate.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-14
You are entitled to be told, before the search starts, four things: the officer’s name and station, what they are looking for, their grounds for the search, and the effect of the statutory provisions about getting a copy of the search record.
This is what the GOWISELY mnemonic is a memory aid for — the mnemonic is a training device, not itself the rule; the rule is the pre-search duty in section 2 of PACE. The fourth matter is the one people miss: section 2(3)(d) requires the officer to tell you the EFFECT of the record provisions, and what that effect is — a copy on request within three months — is the separate item below. The record point can be left out only where it appears a record will not be practicable to make.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.2(2)-(3)
“it shall be his duty, subject to subsection (4) below, to take reasonable steps before he commences the search to bring to the attention of the appropriate person—if the constable is not in uniform, documentary evidence that he is a constable; and—whether he is in uniform or not, the matters specified in subsection (3) below;—and the constable shall not commence the search until he has performed that duty.—The matters referred to in subsection (2)(ii) above are—the constable’s name and the name of the police station to which he is attached;—the object of the proposed search;—the constable’s grounds for proposing to make it; and—the effect of section 3(7) or (8) below, as may be appropriate.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-14
For the search powers on this page, you are entitled to have a written record of the search made, unless doing so is genuinely not practicable.
The duty is not universal across every search power — the Act carves out searches under section 6 and under the Aviation Security Act — but it does cover the everyday street powers described here.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.3(1)
“Where a constable has carried out a search in the exercise of any such power as is mentioned in section 2(1) above, other than a search—under section 6 below; or—under section 27(2) of the Aviation Security Act 1982, a record of the search shall be made in writing unless it is not practicable to do so.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-14
You are entitled to a copy of that record if you ask for one within three months of the date of the search.
Miss the three-month window and the statutory entitlement to a copy lapses.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.3(7) and (9)
“If a record of a search of a person has been made under this section, the person who was searched shall be entitled to a copy of the record if he asks for one before the end of the period specified in subsection (9) below. — The period mentioned in subsections (7) and (8) above is the period of 3 months beginning with the date on which the search was made.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-09-14

What the law says

What the law provides — the power, who can use it and when, and what follows — quoted from its source. The sections above say what you can refuse, what refusing costs you and what you are entitled to.

The officer may detain you for the purpose of carrying out the search.
So walking away from a lawful detention risks arrest. Object verbally, not physically.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.1(2)(b)
“may detain a person or vehicle for the purpose of such a search”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
A s.1 PACE search is not permitted at all unless the officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting they will find something.
A hunch is not grounds. Neither, on its own, is your race, age or the area you are in.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.1(3)
“This section does not give a constable power to search a person or vehicle or anything in or on a vehicle unless he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that he will find stolen or prohibited articles”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25

What actually happens, by the numbers

In 2026-07, 29 forces published records of 34,867 stop and searches in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

65.7% of those searches — 22,892 of them — ended in a no further action disposal. Being searched is not, on the published record, a strong predictor of anything being found.

The power most often used

Power	Searches	Share
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 23)	21,782	62.5%
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (section 1)	12,507	35.9%
Firearms Act 1968 (section 47)	207	0.6%
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (section 60)	207	0.6%

Which is worth knowing before you are stopped: the everyday search is far more likely to be a drugs search under s.23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act than the s.1 PACE power most guides lead with. Both need reasonable grounds.

Source: data.police.uk · published month 2026-07 · retrieved 2026-09-05 · Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts as published; no trends or estimates. England, Wales and Northern Ireland only. Police Scotland does not publish to this API.

First, find out which power they are using

“Stop and search” is not one power. Which one the officer is using changes what they need, and what you can sensibly ask.

s.1 PACE 1984 — the everyday power, for stolen or prohibited articles. Needs reasonable grounds for suspecting they will find something.
s.23 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 — for controlled drugs. Also needs reasonable grounds to suspect.
s.60 CJPOA 1994 — a separate power, switched on by an authorisation that an officer of at least inspector rank gives for a locality and a specified period. While it is in force a constable in uniform can stop and search for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments, whether or not they have any grounds for suspecting that the person or vehicle is carrying them. It works differently from s.1 and s.23, and has its own page.

Asking “what power are you using, and what are you looking for?” is not obstruction. It is information the officer already has to give you.

If they are not in uniform, ask them to prove they are police

This is the single most important protection in this section. If the officer searching you is not in uniform, you are entitled to documentary evidence that they are a constable at all — and the search must not begin until that has been shown to you.

That is what lets someone approached by a plain-clothes officer demand proof they are really police before anything else happens. It is not a technicality to skip past on the way to the grounds for the search — it comes first, in the law itself.

What the officer must tell you before searching

You are entitled to be told, before the search starts, the officer’s name and station, what they are looking for, and their grounds for the search. Some officers are trained to run through this list using the mnemonic GOWISELY — that word is a memory aid for the trainer, not a rule in itself; the rule is the law behind it.

If you take nothing else away: ask for the grounds and remember them. “You match a description” is a ground you can later test; “because I can” is not.

You are entitled to a record of the search

Whenever an officer carries out a search, a written record has to be made unless it genuinely is not practicable to make one.

If you were not given a copy at the time, you can ask the force for one. You are entitled to it, but only if you ask within a set window — three months from the date of the search.

Complain later, not there

The street is the worst place to win an argument about whether a search is lawful. Physically resisting a search — even an unlawful one — risks a separate offence.

Note the officer’s number, note the grounds they gave, and take it up afterwards with the force’s professional standards department or the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Police ask what you are doing: do you have to answer?England & Wales
Do you have to give police your name?England & Wales
Section 60: searched for weapons without grounds for suspicionEngland & Wales
What is a Serious Violence Reduction Order (SVRO)?England & Wales

Last reviewed 2026-10-02. Next review due 2027-02-25. No solicitor has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.