What is the Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel?
The Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel is a group of volunteers who review videos from police body-worn cameras and provide their feedback to improve police practice.
The panel is made up of diverse volunteers, and young people aged 16 – 25 are especially encouraged to get involved.
Stop and Search Scrutiny panels aim to improve the way police officers work, build community confidence in the police, and make policing more fair. They have an open and honest conversation with the police about what happens during a Stop and Search event.
What does being part of the panel involve?
In Buckinghamshire, members of the Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel meet in Aylesbury at a Council venue once every 3 or 4 months for approximately 2.5 hours. During the meetings, the members are shown videos from Stop and Search events.
Stop and Search Scrutiny panel members do not need to have any particular experience or expertise. Their role is to provide their personal reflections on the videos they are shown.
The panel members watch each video together and then discuss their thoughts on it with a police representative who facilitates the panel. The police representative can answer questions about standard / best practice and Stop and Search guidance.
The police representative gathers the feedback and shares it with relevant colleagues in Thames Valley Police, including the officers who were present at the Stop and Search case that was discussed. This is used to improve practice in different ways – through conversations with the individual police officers involved in the specific case discussed, in training for new and existing police officers, and via messaging to managers and leaders.
Interested in getting involved?
If you are interested in this opportunity, please email simon.lincoln@thamesvalley.police.uk with your name, age, a bit about yourself, and why you are interested in joining the panel.
Current members of the Stop and Search scrutiny panel have diverse experiences and ages. The members treat each other with respect, even when their opinions differ to each other. Before attending, you will receive an introduction from the police representative that leads the panel.