On 11th August, Tuesday, campaigners and lawyers have demanded that the ethnicity of drivers being stopped by police should be routinely recorded. They have also insisted that the police must maintain and regularly update record of the reasons for these individuals being pulled over. Their outcry appears in light of Dawn Butler allegations that the police is “institutionally racist”.
Traffic stops have come under increased scrutiny since another high-profile incident last month in which the British athlete Bianca Williams was stopped and handcuffed by police alongside her partner while her baby son was in the car. Officers have the power to stop drivers without reasonable suspicion that they have done something wrong under section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Since, traffic stops are not routinely recorded, so there is no police data on why the power is used and who it is used against. If they result in searches of vehicles and passengers, it is then considered a stop and search.
The current law governing stop and search, however, is contained in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984, which says an officer requires “reasonable grounds for suspecting” someone before they can use their powers. Officers must also make a written record of the details of the stop and search.
Police can stop someone without reasonable grounds when a section 60 order is in place in a particular area. Police are supposed to authorise such an order only when there has been serious violence or where there is a risk that it may occur.
