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Say one was running along the road, and a police officer shouts "Oi". As I understand it you have no legal requirement to engage with them, and can continue your run. This seems to be consistent with the government guidance on being asked to identify yourself:

A police officer might stop you and ask: what your name is, what you’re doing in the area, where you’re going. You don’t have to stop or answer any questions. If you don’t and there’s no other reason to suspect you, then this alone can’t be used as a reason to search or arrest you.

However, if they shout "I am a police officer, you are under arrest for [specific crime], I am arresting you because [why it’s necessary to arrest you] and you are not free to leave" then you are required to stop your run and engage with the police. The same would be true of a stop and search with slightly different things they must say. However, unless they are very good at talking and running by the time they have said all that you are likely to be out of hearing range.

At what point in such an encounter are you required to engage with the police, or at what point does continuing your run become resisting arrest? It was suggested in the comments that the threshold for the police legally using violence could be different than the threshold for criminality, if such is the case that would be a great addition to the answer.

It has been suggested that this question may answer mine. The linked question is about what information you have to provide once you are interacting with the police, my question is about what point you have to interact with police.

FD_bfa
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User65535
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1 Answers1

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This question is very scenario-dependent. I will outline the answer relating to stop and search below. If what is set out below is not complied with, then the stop and search is not lawful and you are neither obliged to stop, nor consent to be searched.

The law in regarding when individuals must stop and comply with the request of a police officer for stop and search is set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ("PACE").

Location

You are only required to stop and comply if you are in:

  • somewhere the public has access to (s.1(1)(a) PACE), or
  • in any non-dwelling private land where people have ready access (s.1(1)(b) PACE)

In general, you do not have to comply if you are in:

  • a private dwelling (s.1(4), s.1(5) PACE) (with some exceptions)

Justification

The police must have reasonable grounds for their desire to stop and search you. There are two recognised grounds for this:

  • To find stolen or prohibited articles (s 1 PACE)
  • To find controlled drugs (s 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971)

The officer's suspicion must be both genuine (subjective requirement) and reasonable (objective requirement).

Duty to inform

From Paragraph 2.11 from the PACE Code A 2023 (my emphasis in bold):

2.11 There is no power to stop or detain a person in order to find grounds for a search. Police officers have many encounters with members of the public which do not involve detaining people against their will and do not require any statutory power for an officer to speak to a person (see paragraph 4.12 and Note 1). However, if reasonable grounds for suspicion emerge during such an encounter, the officer may detain the person to search them, even though no grounds existed when the encounter began. As soon as detention begins, and before searching, the officer must inform the person that they are being detained for the purpose of a search and take action in accordance with paragraphs 3.8 to 3.11 under “Steps to be taken prior to a search”.

More generally, even if you are not detained, paragraph 3.8 deals explains that the officer must take reasonable steps to inform:

3.8 Before any search of a detained person or attended vehicle takes place the officer must take reasonable steps, if not in uniform (see paragraph 3.9), to show their warrant card to the person to be searched or in charge of the vehicle to be searched and whether or not in uniform, to give that person the following information:

(a) that they are being detained for the purposes of a search;

(b) the officer’s name ... and the name of the police station to which the officer is attached;

(c) the legal search power which is being exercised, and

(d) a clear explanation of:

(i) the object of the search in terms of the article or articles for which there is a power to search; and ...

...

Conclusion: The bottom line is that a police officer cannot impose a legal duty on you to engage without reasonable grounds to do so. However: if you ignore them and appear to run away, you will likely appear suspicious and this could then give them reasonable grounds. Although you do not need to engage with them until the point of reasonable suspicion, it is generally not a good idea to completely ignore and run away from a police officer.

FD_bfa
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