FOI 313291
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 313291
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 20th February 2024. Please find below the response to your request:
Do you have any specific guidance about how Sikh turbans should be treated during 1) a police stop/ search and 2) searches in police custody?
Reply
West Mercia Police do not hold specific guidance on how Sikh turbans are treated during searches however there is general mention to religious articles in the force policy, please see extract below:
4.2 Types of Search
Where on reasonable grounds it is considered necessary to conduct a more thorough search (e.g. by requiring a person to take off a T-shirt), this must be done out of public view, for example, in a police van unless paragraph below applies, or police station if there is one nearby. Searches must, where possible, be conducted by officers of the same sex to the detained person. Any search involving the removal of more than an outer coat, jacket, gloves, headgear or footwear, or any other item concealing identity, may only be made by an officer of the same sex as the person searched and may not be made in the presence of anyone of the opposite sex unless the person being searched specifically requests it.
Searches involving exposure of intimate parts of the body must not be conducted as a routine extension of a less thorough search, simply because nothing is found in the course of the initial search. Searches involving exposure of intimate parts of the body may be carried out only at a nearby police station or other nearby location which is out of public view (but not a police vehicle). These searches must be conducted in accordance with paragraph 11 of Annex A to Code C except that an intimate search mentioned in paragraph11 (f) of Annex A to Code C may not be authorised or carried out under any stop and search powers. The other provisions of Code C do not apply to the conduct and recording of searches of persons detained at police stations in the exercise of stop and search powers.
Although there are no age restrictions on conducting searches, particular care must be taken when searching children, the elderly, vulnerable and disabled persons, and people who are wearing clothes which denote their religion. Care must also be taken when handling religious articles such religious texts or other articles synonymous with following a particular religion. The impact on searching in these circumstances may leave a lasting impression on the public as well as the individuals themselves, therefore the necessity of the search must be fully considered.
There is a general NPCC guidance document which can be found here regarding Sikh articles of Faith in the workplace.
Although not documented Custody have received some guidance from a Sikh representative during a Faith’s in Custody Forum whereby faith leads walk through the Custody process, and this is then cascaded through training.