Cannabis smell is no reason to stop and search suspects

Daily Telegraph Reporter POLICE cannot stop and search a suspect on the basis that they smell of cannabis, a watchdog has ruled.

The police watchdog upheld a complaint made by a black cyclist in London who was stopped and searched after an officer claimed he could smell the drug.

A video of part of the incident in Euston in November last year was widely shared online after it was posted on Emmanuel Arthur’s Instagram page. No drugs were found during the search on the cyclist.

“I am very annoyed at having to go through such a degrading and humiliating experience,” he wrote. “It seemed to me like a gross abuse of power by an officer who tried to show off to his colleagues and made up a reason as retribution for his failed attempt.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found the Metropolitan Police officer’s grounds for the search, under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, were not reasonable.

But Mr Arthur’s complaint that he was racially profiled was not upheld because a review of a year of the officer’s stop and search records found he had used the single reason of smelling cannabis to stop and search “people of all ethnicities and genders”, the watchdog said.

The officer, who has not been named, has been told to undertake “reflective practice”.

Sal Naseem, the IOPC regional director, said: “Stopping someone on the single ground of a suspicion of the smell of cannabis is not good practice and it’s right that the officer will have to reflect on this.

“Our investigation found the officer had used the same approach on other occasions, but with people of all sexes and ethnicities.

“However, it’s still important to acknowledge that Mr Arthur felt racially profiled.”