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Stop and search: Disproportionality, discretion and generalisations

Ellis, Darren

Authors



Abstract

It has long been recognised that discretion is vital to good police work. However, in Britain (and many other countries), practices of discretion in the stop and search context have come under much scrutiny as it has widely been linked to racist practices, i.e. a disproportionate amount of Black and minority ethnic individuals are stopped and searched compared to White people. In a bid to counteract the discretionary practices that are seen to be linked to racist stops and searches, police officers are required (in stops and searches under section 1 of the PACE code A) to have ‘reasonable grounds for suspicion’. This article evaluates what has been claimed as the tension between the required reasonable grounds for suspicion and the need to draw on generalisations (police discretion) for effective policing.

Citation

Ellis, D. (2010). Stop and search: Disproportionality, discretion and generalisations. Police Journal, 83(3), 199-216. https://doi.org/10.1350/pojo.2010.83.3.476

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Sep 1, 2010
Publication Date 2010-09
Deposit Date Feb 7, 2023
Journal The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles
Print ISSN 0032-258X
Electronic ISSN 1740-5599
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 83
Issue 3
Pages 199-216
DOI https://doi.org/10.1350/pojo.2010.83.3.476
Keywords Discretion; intuition; reasonable suspicion; stop and search; suspicion
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10336949
Publisher URL https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1350/pojo.2010.83.3.476