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Now you see it, now you don’t: On the (in)visibility of police stop and search in Northern Ireland

Bradford, B; Topping, J; (2020) Now you see it, now you don’t: On the (in)visibility of police stop and search in Northern Ireland. Criminology and Criminal Justice , 20 (1) pp. 93-110. 10.1177/1748895818800742. Green open access

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Abstract

Police stop and search practices have been subject to voluminous debate for over 40 years in the United Kingdom. Yet critical debate related to the use of ‘everyday’ stop and search powers by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has, despite the hyper-accountable policing system of Northern Ireland, been marked by its absence. This article presents the first ever analysis of PSNI’s use of PACE-type powers (Police and Criminal Evidence (NI) Order 1989) – currently used at a higher rate and with poorer outcomes compared to the rest of the UK. While it can only be considered as an elusive power, about which detailed research evidence is markedly lacking, stop and search in Northern Ireland seems to serve as a classificatory tool for PSNI to control mainly young, socio-economically marginal male populations. The article provides new theoretical insight into stop and search as a simultaneous overt and covert practice, and speaks to wider issues of mundane police power – and practice – within highly contested and politically fractured contexts.

Type: Article
Title: Now you see it, now you don’t: On the (in)visibility of police stop and search in Northern Ireland
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/1748895818800742
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1748895818800742
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Police powers, Police Service of Northern Ireland, social control, stop and search
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Security and Crime Science
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10057091
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