Northamptonshire police officers to say sorry for wrongful searches

Police officers could be forced to apologise in person if they carry out "unreasonable searches" on people in the street, Northamptonshire's Police and Crime Commissioner has said.

Adam Simmonds said the force had already adopted a policy whereby officers could have search powers withdrawn if they were used improperly.

He said police must be "accountable".

New research shows incorrect searches are more prevalent among young people and ethnic minorities.

Speaking at the launch of the force's report into stop and search, he said powers needed to be "fundamentally reformed" to ensure the public had trust in the police.

He introduced plans to give people the option to seek a face-to-face apology from the officer in question if the grounds for searching were not felt to be reasonable.

He said a new community panel, consisting of senior officers and members of the public, had also been set up to review stop and searches and ban officers that continued to search without good cause.

Any person adversely affected by a search could also accompany the force on a routine patrol, Mr Simmonds said.

The report said 64% of people searched in Northamptonshire were aged between 13 and 24.

Of the respondents who had been searched, 49% thought the police officer had no justification in doing it, 41% disagreed that the officer had treated them with respect and 39% disagreed that the officer had treated them fairly.

Mr Simmonds has also launched an independent review into stop and search to ensure practise matches up to policy. It is being carried out by Duwayne Brooks, a friend of Stephen Lawrence who was stopped many times by police following his murder without charges being laid.

"Police officers who carry out stop and searches must use their powers responsibly and be accountable for their actions. If an officer fails to follow the correct procedures he or she must face the consequences," said Mr Simmonds.

Searches conducted by Northamptonshire Police have fallen by more than 50% to 3,414 in the past year.

Northamptonshire's Police Federation has been contacted for comment.