Stop and Search - A person

[gavinwaller]

What is a person for the purposes of a search under s1 of PACE? Does is include anthing that they may be carrying or pulling along behind them, if so then where is this stated because only under the search of people under the terrorism section does it state that a pedestrian or anything they are carrying may be searched.

[jen78]

Well as they can search cars as well in certain circumstances I'd say it was the same kind of power for this.

[birdie1971]

It is not stated specifically in Section 1 of the Act that the police can search an object/article that the person is carrying, pushing or pulling.

But...

Think about it like this. Section 1 of PACE states that a constable can stop and search a person for prohibited articles. What does "search a person" actually mean? It means search the clothing that the person is wearing, or to put it another way, search the possessions that the person has with them at the time. Does the person 'possess' a coat and does he have it with him at the time? If yes, the coat can be searched, etc.

�Search a person� in reality means �search the possessions of the person that they have at the time of the stop search�. This includes anything they are wearing, carrying, pushing or pulling at the time.