‘EXAMINING THE IMPACT POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES HAVE HAD ON INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY IN STOP AND SEARCH PRACTICES AND THE CHALLENGES THAT ARE POSED (CREATING BARRIERS FOR INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY)’

For many years increasing accountability of stop and search (S&S) practices has been an area of research interest by researchers. The discussion of accountability has been debated in Parliament, which led the government to introduce Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in 2012, which the government professed would make policing more ‘democratically accountable’. The aim of this thesis is to examine the impact that PCCs have had on increasing accountability in S&S practices, assessing participants’ perceptions on additional barriers that may impact PCCs abilities to improve external accountability of S&S policing powers.

This study reports findings from the mixed-methods research. Firstly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty (n=30) interviewees including PCCs, as well as a range of police (Chief Constable to front-line); Police Trainers; members of the public who have been stopped and searched; Race and Equality Council representatives, Police and Crime Panel members and S&S Scrutiny Panel members. Secondly, a public perception survey was undertaken, resulting in 388 members of the public completing an online questionnaire. The responses from the qualitative research methods showed similarities, as well as differences of perceptions of members of the public, in comparison to those working in policing. Furthermore, quantitative research was conducted using content analysis of the PCCs Police and Crime Plan Annual Reports, to assess the degree to which accountability of S&S has been afforded as a priority by the PCCs.

The findings from this research indicate that the introduction of PCCs has altered accountability at the top of the police force (chief officers) but has had limited impact on the knowledge and awareness of front-line police officers, in addition to having a limited impact on increasing public confidence in policing accountability. The second major finding is the ‘lack of awareness’ of front-line police officers and members of the public regarding accountability mechanisms in S&S. The literature review identified that definitions of ‘policing culture’ and cultural models have focused on national culture and differences of culture between local forces. This research has indicated that cultural characteristics are still present in England and Wales policing culture. Using the findings of this research, the major contribution to knowledge made by this thesis is the development of a new model, which incorporates an adaptation of aspects of previous cultural models, including Chan’s (1996) ‘policing culture’ model and ‘normative orders’ (Herbert, 1997). The new model focuses on policing in England and Wales and the importance of external accountability in S&S practices. It is entitled ‘Challenges limiting the impact of democratic accountability and accountability measures in S&S practices in England and Wales’. Overall, the findings indicate further improvement and investment is required, to increase democratic accountability and accountability of S&S practices.