Super Complaints

In May 2021, the Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) submitted a super-complaint to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) in relation to police use of stop searches conducted under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (CJPOA) 1994 and the independent scrutiny of all stop and search powers.

A section 60 authorisation gives the police powers to stop and search people and vehicles for “offensive weapons or dangerous instruments”. These powers only apply to a designated locality in a police force area for a set period.

The CJA has raised concern about “inadequate scrutiny” relating to the scrutiny of the police’s use of Section 60 CJPOA, and their use of other powers of stop and search. These powers are mainly those under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Following an investigation by HMICFRS, the College of Policing, and the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC), relating to 11 fieldwork forces in England, a report containing ten recommendations to Chief Constables was published in December 2023.

North Wales Police accept each of the recommendations made and we are in the process of assessing our performance against each of these. We have already developed our action plan and will be working across our workforce, with our established independent scrutiny partners and the College of Policing to address the recommendations raised within the required timeframe.