Question
Have stop and search information cards been issued yet?
Answer
The PSNI’s new stop and search information card for children and young people (C&YP) was launched during January 2025. During this launch, 6000 stop and search information cards for C&YP were printed and distributed across the PSNI estate for use by police officers (Note – This distribution was informed by statistics relating to the numbers of young people stopped and searched over the previous years, within each station area).
The launch of this card was communicated to all police officers and this communication included an article on the PSNI’s internal intranet pages (POINT) which include the instruction that “it is required that police officers now issue one of these information cards to any person who is subject to a Stop and Search encounter, where the officer knows or suspects the person to be under 18 years old”
The information card itself includes a QR code which, when scanned by a mobile telephone, will link users directly to a PSNI external web page containing a Stop and Search Guide for children and young people. This web page has been created as a place for children and young people to access further information, support and signposting about issues surrounding Stop and Search.
Additionally, The PSNI’s Poling Powers Development Unit (PPDU) has liaised with the Children’s Services Planning Team at the Department of Health and on the 15th of January 2025 this information card was added to their Translation Hub which forms part of the Children & Young Persons Strategic Partnership website.
The card is located under the Police / Crime section, and is translatable to more than 100 different language options and can be accessed at:
Translation Police – Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership (CYPSP)
Since the launch of this information card the PSNI’s PPDU has been in contact with individual policing teams to further help raise awareness and also to ensure that teams have access to the cards allocated to them. Additionally, the PPDU has been in contact with various stakeholders such as the members of the Stop and Search Working Group for Children and Young People, the Independent Reviewer of Justice and Security Act powers, the Department of Justice and members of both the Youth Champions Forum and Service Accountability Panel, to ensure that they are up to date.
The PSNI’s PPDU will remain in contact with our stakeholders to keep under review, the uptake and performance of this new information card.
Cathal Boylan MLA - Sinn Féin