Surrey Police has joined a ground-breaking new Home Office initiative which sees details of police stop and searches mapped online.

The force is one of 14 who have today launched the stop and search mapping scheme on http://www.police.uk. The initiative allows the public to see every time that stop and search powers are utilised and the outcome of each incident.

In addition, visitors can use the mapping system to see details such as ethnicity, gender and the age range of those stopped and searched.

In December, Surrey Police joined the government Best Use of Stop and Search scheme (BUSS), which restricts the use of section 60 “no suspicion” powers, gives members of the public the opportunity to observe stop and search in practice, and introduced a community complaints trigger, ensuring complaints are properly monitored and scrutinised.

Chief Superintendent Charlie Doyle from Surrey Police said: This scheme should enable us and the Police Service nationally, to further improve the trust and confidence of local communities and demonstrates our continued commitment to being accountable, open and transparent to the Surrey public.”