{"id":50455,"date":"2025-04-25T21:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T21:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/50455\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T21:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T21:57:10","slug":"police-to-stop-searching-people-because-they-smell-cannabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/50455\/","title":{"rendered":"Police to stop searching people because they smell cannabis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Force chiefs have brought in the new policy following concernsNews<\/a><\/p>\n

Gabriel Shepard<\/strong> Assistant Head of Print<\/p>\n

17:02, 25 Apr 2025<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice to stop searching people because they smell cannabis (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Avon and Somerset Police will no longer stop and search people just because they smell of cannabis.<\/p>\n

Force chiefs have brought in the new policy following concerns raised by its Independent Scrutiny of Police Powers Panel whose members suggested officers were too often using the measure as a \u201cfishing\u201d expedition.<\/p>\n

Instead they must now have another reason for a stop and search \u2013 such as suspecting someone is in possession of a weapon or stolen goods.<\/p>\n

It is hoped the change will improve relations between the police and public.<\/p>\n

But some residents have expressed concern about increasingly blatant cannabis use in the city \u2013 with last year\u2019s Lord Mayor saying the \u201cBristol fog\u201d could even be smelled drifting into City Hall.<\/p>\n

Last Sunday\u2019s \u201c420\u201d protest in Castle Park \u2013 although not a new event \u2013 also raised questions as to why thousands of people were allowed to take drugs openly in public.<\/p>\n

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman told the Post : \u201cWe are grateful for the feedback received from ISoPPP and our communities which has been instrumental in our work formulating a new stop and search policy.<\/p>\n

Sign up to receive daily news updates and breaking news alerts straight to your inbox for free here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cStop and search is an important tool available to officers to help prevent crime and identify offenders. We police by consent and know that stop and search powers must be used legitimately to maintain the public\u2019s trust and confidence. We strongly believe the new policy will enable us to deliver that, as well as tackle the unacceptable issues around disproportionality that have been clear over many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrontline officers have received training around the new policy to make sure these improvements are felt by all our communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the new policy is greater clarification around the proportionality of conducting stop and searches in relation to the smell of cannabis. National guidance has previously stated it is not good practice to conduct a search purely based on the potential smell of cannabis and we believe that making it clearer to officers what is considered reasonable grounds for a search within our force policy is in the best interests of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether the new policy would impact the number of arrests for cannabis use, the spokesman added: \u201cAnyone seen to be in possession of cannabis \u2013 or indeed any illegal substance \u2013 is breaking the law and will continue as before to be dealt with in the most appropriate manner. This includes criminal prosecution, police caution, or being offered other intervention, such as educational programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur priority is always first and foremost to target those who supply illegal substances and the new policy will not in any way impact on officers\u2019 ability to do that. We will continue to target drug dealers robustly and bring them to justice to protect members of the public from the misery such criminal activity causes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Desmond Brown, chair of the Independent Scrutiny of Police Powers Panel, said implementation of the new guidance was an \u201cimportant protective measure that safeguards public trust\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Brown said: \u201cAs a panel, we review hours of dip-sampled footage of officers using their powers – including stop and search.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur review of past footage showed too many searches based solely on smell \u2013 often leading to \u2018fishing trips\u2019 for unrelated matters. Under the new guidance, officers must now identify at least one additional ground whilst conducting a search. We view this as an important protective measure that safeguards public trust and ensures stop-and-search powers are used fairly and proportionately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to join our WhatsApp group<\/a>Privacy Notice<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Force chiefs have brought in the new policy following concernsNews Gabriel Shepard Assistant Head of Print 17:02, 25…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[9312,381,748,188,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-50455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-avon-and-somerset-constabulary","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-crime","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114400844174420158","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}