New search rules for trans police officers and suspects drawn upby Jane Fae | 23 July 2012, 12:46pm
www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/07/23/new-search-rules-for-trans-police-officers-and-suspects-drawn-up/It is all change for trans police and policing, as increased awareness of trans sensitivities sees new rules for searching suspects – both who can do the searching and how people should be searched – emerging in the last few weeks.
First up is a long-awaited sweeping away of some of the last barriers to trans police officers playing a full and effective role in police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last month. New guidelines on the searching of suspects made it clear that there should no longer be any obstacle to trans officers carrying out intimate and body searches of suspects of the appropriate gender.
This follows a change in advice to police forces issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers, overturning guidance in place since 2005 and bringing the Police into line with current legal rulings on this matter.