You are walking home when officers stop you, pat down your jacket and let you go. Nobody has accused you of anything. When you ask why, you get a phrase that turns up constantly in local news and police press releases: "a Section 60 is in force in this area." It sounds technical, and slightly ominous. In practice it means something quite specific — and it is worth knowing exactly what it does and does not allow.

What a Section 60 authorises

Section 60 is a power in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, and it applies in England and Wales. Normally, stop and search runs on reasonable suspicion: an officer must have grounds to think you personally may be carrying something you should not be. Section 60 switches that requirement off inside a defined area, for a defined period.

Inside that window, an officer can stop you and search you for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments without suspecting you of anything at all. That is the point of the power, and it is also why it is controversial. A Section 60 search is not an accusation. The authorising officer's belief is about the place and the moment — that serious violence may occur there, or that weapons are likely to be carried there.

Officially it is an authorisation rather than an order, though almost everyone, including many officers, calls it a Section 60 order.

When can one be put in place?

A senior officer — at least inspector rank, with changes brought in by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 tightening who can sign what off — has to reasonably believe one of two things about the area: that serious violence may take place there, or that offensive weapons or dangerous instruments are being carried there. A hunch is not enough. Nor is it acceptable as a routine tactic simply because it might come in useful.

Before authorising, the officer should be able to point to:

• Recent incidents, intelligence or a pattern of violence in that specific area
• Why ordinary suspicion-based stop and search would not do the job
• Why a narrower area or a shorter time window would not work just as well
• The likely effect on the community, including on trust in the police
• Whether the power is necessary and proportionate overall

Good practice also means telling community representatives, and publishing the authorisation where practical. If a Section 60 covers your neighbourhood, you should be able to find out about it rather than hear about it second-hand.

How long, and how wide?

Authorisations are meant to be short and tightly drawn. The area has to be described clearly — a few streets or a defined part of a town centre, not half a county — and an initial authorisation runs for a matter of hours, with a more senior officer needed to extend it. It is never an open-ended arrangement.

In practice, if you want to know whether one covers your street, check your local force's website or social media accounts, or ask the officer who stops you which authorisation they are using. Forces that use the power are expected to be open about it.

If you are stopped under a Section 60

Most of this is straightforward, and knowing it in advance keeps the encounter short.

• The officer should tell you which power is being used, and give their name or shoulder number and the station they are based at.
• The search should be for weapons or dangerous instruments, and should be no more intrusive than necessary. In public, expect it to be limited to outer clothing — a coat, jacket or gloves.
• You are not obliged to give your name and address simply because you have been stopped and searched. Being searched is not the same as being arrested.
• You can ask questions: which power, which authorisation, and why you were chosen. Officers should be able to explain.
• You are entitled to a written record of the search, and you can ask for a copy.

Stay calm, keep your hands where they can be seen, and keep your answers short and factual.

What Section 60 does not allow

Because the suspicion requirement is switched off, people sometimes assume the power is total. It is not. The search has to be for weapons or dangerous instruments. If an officer happens to find drugs or stolen property, that is a separate matter — but the reason for searching you under Section 60 should still be weapons. It does not let officers search your home, seize your phone without a lawful basis, or hold you for longer than the search and any related lawful detention reasonably requires.

Nor does it cancel your right to be treated fairly. Equality law duties on the police still apply, as do human rights rules against discrimination, and an officer's decision to search you still has to be justified, reviewed and recorded. And it is an England and Wales power: police in Scotland do not use suspicion-less stop and search.

Why it is contested

Home Office statistics have consistently shown that Black people, particularly young Black men, are stopped and searched at far higher rates than white people, and the gap tends to be wider for suspicion-less searches. Reviews of the power have repeatedly found that the difference is not fully explained by patterns of offending.

There is a practical argument on the other side of the ledger too. Independent assessments of suspicion-less searching have generally found the evidence that it reduces violent crime to be weak, even where forces can point to weapons recovered. Supporters see it as a fast, visible deterrent in neighbourhoods living with serious violence. Critics argue it burns the trust that solves investigations, and that the same results can be reached through suspicion-based searches and better intelligence.

If you think a search was wrong

You do not need a solicitor to raise a concern, and it is worth doing even if the search itself was minor. Start by writing down what you can remember while it is fresh:

1. The date, time and exact location.
2. The officer's name or shoulder number, the station, and any vehicle details.
3. What was said, including the power they cited and the reason given.
4. Who else was present, and whether anyone filmed it.

Then ask for the search record and keep it. Complaints go to the force's professional standards department — most forces have an online form — and can be escalated to the Independent Office for Police Conduct if you are not satisfied or the case is serious. Local stop and search scrutiny panels review records and hear from the public; your police and crime commissioner's office can tell you how to take part or submit a case.

Keep it factual and dated. Above all, remember this is general information rather than legal advice: if you are facing a charge or considering a claim, speak to a solicitor who knows policing law.

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