SEARCHING, SCREENING AND CONFISCATION POLICY

1. INTRODUCTION

• 1.1. This Searching, Screening and Confiscation Policy has been established to ensure the safety and security of all individuals within Leicester College. The Policy aims to provide guidelines for the fair and lawful conduct of searching, screening and confiscation procedures, while respecting the rights and dignity of students and ensuring clear guidelines for staff.

• 1.2. The Searching, Screening and Confiscation Policy will be used if students or apprentices are suspected of being under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, or suspected of being in possession of drugs and/or alcohol, an offensive weapon or stolen items, or there is suspicion of bringing such items onto a campus or College building. 

• 1.3. For the purposes of this Policy, an offensive weapon can include, but is not limited to, a bladed or pointed article, a forearm (fake, real air or ball bearing weapons) or any other article that has the potential to cause harm or induce fear.

2. POLICY OBJECTIVES

• 2.1. The purpose of this policy is to:

  • 2.1.1. Prevent and deter the possession or use of illegal substances, weapons, or other prohibited items on College premises.

  • 2.1.2. Maintain a safe and secure learning environment for all individuals within the College community.

  • 2.1.3. Support the duty of care owed by the College to its students, apprentices, staff, volunteers and visitors.

  • 2.1.4. Ensure that all searching, screening and confiscation procedures are conducted in a fair, respectful, and non-discriminatory manner, adhering to relevant legislation and human rights.

3. SCOPE

• 3.1. This policy applies to students and apprentices present on College premises.

• 3.2. The policy covers both the search of a person as well as belongings including but not limited to bags, lockers, toolboxes etc.

• 3.3. Where there is reasonable suspicion that an offensive weapon is being carried, College staff will not use this power of search but will instead call the Police. 

4. LEGAL FRAMEWORK

• 4.1. All searching, screening and confiscation procedures conducted within the College will adhere to the applicable legislation, including but not limited to:

  • 4.1.1. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)

  • 4.1.2. The Equality Act 2010

  • 4.1.3. The Human Rights Act 1998

  • 4.1.4. Further and Higher Education Act 1992. 

5. AUTHORISED PERSONNEL

• 5.1. Searching, screening and confiscation procedures will only be carried out by members of staff authorised by the Principal who have received appropriate training in conducting searches in a fair, respectful, and non-discriminatory manner. These individuals may include campus wardens or other designated College staff.

6. GROUNDS FOR SEARCHING, SCREENING AND CONFISCATION

• 6.1. Searching, screening and confiscation procedures may be conducted when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual is in possession of illegal substances, weapons, or other prohibited items. Reasonable grounds may include, but are not limited to:

  • 6.1.1. Observation of suspicious behaviour or conduct.

  • 6.1.2. Reports or intelligence received regarding a potential threat to safety and security. Information provided by a reliable source.

  • 6.1.3. Appropriate use of surveillance systems in accordance with relevant legislation.

• 6.2. The College also reserves the right to introduce random, non-targeted searches for prohibited articles in line with the promotion of a safe and secure environment for all students, staff and visitors.

7.      CONDUCTING SEARCHING, SCREENING AND CONFISCATION 

7.1. General Principles

• 7.1.1. Whenever possible, searching, screening and confiscation procedures should be conducted in a private and discrete area, respecting the individual's privacy.

• 7.1.2. The person carrying out the search should, wherever possible, be the gender the person being searched identifies as. This should be discussed with the student before any search commences. 

• 7.1.3. Searches must never be conducted without another member of staff present, preferably the same gender as the student being searched identifies as. This should be discussed with the student before any search commences. 

• 7.1.4. The person being searched may request someone to accompany them.

• 7.1.5. The person conducting the search must provide their identification and clearly explain the reasons for the search to the individual being searched.

• 7.1.6. Individuals will be treated with respect, courtesy, and fairness throughout the search process.

• 7.1.7. A record of the search will be made using the Incident Reporting Sharepoint form, including the grounds for the search, the names of individuals involved, and any items found.

• 7.1.8. If prohibited items or illegal substances are discovered, appropriate action will be taken in accordance with the College's Behaviour Management Policy and, where applicable, reported to the relevant authorities.

• 7.1.9. There is no requirement to inform parents of students aged under 18 before a search takes place or to seek their consent to search their child. 

7.2. Searching with consent

• 7.2.1. Staff authorised by the Principal can search students with their consent for any item.

• 7.2.2. Formal written consent is not required for this type of search, it is enough for the staff member to ask a student to turn out their pockets or ask to look in a student’s belongings, and for the student to agree.

7.3. Searching without consent

• 7.3.1. Where there is reasonable suspicion that a student is in possession of any article that a member of staff reasonably suspects has been, or is likely to be, used to commit an offence, or to cause personal injury, or damage to property, a search can take place without consent.

• 7.3.2. The power to search without consent enables a personal search, involving removal of outer clothing and searching of pockets; but not an intimate search going further than that which can only be carried out by a person with more extensive powers (e.g. a police officer)

• 7.3.3. A search without consent extends to clothes, possessions, desks and lockers. Possessions means any items over which the student has or appears to have control.

7.4. Students with a Learning Disability or Difficulty

• 7.4.1. Where a student has a learning difficulty or disability that may prevent them from fully understanding the process or giving informed consent, the member of staff wishing to undertake the search must first seek guidance from the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) (or a Safeguarding Lead where they are not available). 

• 7.4.2. The DSL will review the request for a search and provide the necessary advice and guidance, which may include contacting the student’s parents or care giver to seek consent. 

• 7.4.3. Where a search is authorised, the additional member of staff should be one known to the student.

8. AFTER THE SEARCH

• 8.1. The member of staff can use their discretion to confiscate, retain and/or destroy any item found as a result of a ‘with consent’ search so long as it is reasonable in the circumstances. 

• 8.2. Where any article is thought to be a weapon, it will be passed onto the Police.

• 8.3. Where alcohol, pornography or tobacco products are found on a student under the age of 18 they will be retained and disposed of.

• 8.4. Any controlled drugs as defined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Section 2 will be delivered to the Police as soon as possible.

• 8.5. Where other substances are found that are not believed to be controlled drugs, these can be confiscated where the member of staff believes them to be harmful. This would include, for example, ‘legal highs’.

• 8.6. Where stolen items are found, these should be given to the Police as soon as possible.

• 8.7. Any weapons or items which are evidence of an offence must be passed to the Police as soon as possible.

• 8.8. Parents of students under the age of 18 will be notified when any prohibited items, illegal substances, tobacco products, fireworks, pornography or potentially harmful substances, although there is no legal requirement to do so.

9. PROCEDURE FOR SEIZED DRUGS/SUBSTANCES AND/OR DRUGS PARAPHERNALIA

• 9.1. The Director of Estates, Estates Manager or Health and Safety Officer must be contacted. They will arrange for safe removal, storage and recording (in a labelled evidence bag) in a secure, locked area. The labelled evidence bag shall include the details of the date and time of the seizure/find and the names of any witnesses.

• 9.2. The Director of Estates, Estates Manager or Health and Safety Officer shall notify the Police without delay who will then arrange to collect the drugs and will deal with them in line with their own protocols.  

• 9.3. The member of staff responsible for seizing the suspected drugs shall record full details of the seizure on the Incident Reporting system. Any substance shall be described in terms of appearance as well as any suspected name.  

10. RECORDING OF SEARCHES

• 10.1. All searches will be recorded on the Incident Recording Sharepoint system. The information required to be recorded is detailed in the procedure document in the Appendix.

11. MONITORING AND REVIE

• 11.1. The College will regularly monitor and review the implementation of this Policy to ensure its effectiveness, fairness, and compliance with relevant legislation. Feedback from individuals involved in screening, search and confiscation procedures will be considered to identify areas for improvement.

12. TRAINING AND AWARENESS

• 12.1. All authorised personnel involved in conducting searching, screening and confiscation procedures will receive appropriate training to ensure their understanding of the policy, their legal responsibilities, and the fair and respectful conduct of searches. The College will also promote awareness of this policy among the College community through appropriate channels, such as staff and student handbooks, College website, and notice boards.

13. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

• 13.1. If any person believes they have been subjected to an unfair or unjust searching, screening and confiscation procedure, the College’s complaints process should be used. 

• 13.2. Complaints will be investigated promptly and impartially, and appropriate action will be taken to address any concerns raised.

14. COMMUNICATION AND REVIEW

• 14.1. This Policy will be made available to all students, staff, and visitors through the College website and other relevant communication channels. Any updates or revisions to the policy will also be communicated effectively to the college community.

• 14.2. This Policy will be reviewed on a two-yearly basis by the Health and Safety Committee, to ensure its continued relevance and compliance with legislation and best practices. 

• 14.3. The Health and Safety Committee shall receive reporting on searches completed, and any complaints received in relation to the policy. 

APPENDIX

SEARCHING, SCREENING AND CONFISCATION PROCEDURES

1. Reasonable Suspicion (which allows a search to take place without consent)

• 1.1. If authorised staff suspect a prohibited item is somewhere in the College or at the location of an offsite educational visit, they can search any student if they have reasonable grounds for suspecting that they may have a prohibited item with them or in their possession. This is a legal standard and not a subjective one; the searcher must assess what constitutes, in each particular case, reasonable grounds for suspicion that a student may have a prohibited item with them or in their possession.

• 1.2. Suspicion should be based on facts relevant to the likelihood of finding a prohibited item. Reasonable suspicion will rarely be supported on the basis of personal factors alone, without reliable supporting intelligence or information about some specific behaviour by the student to be searched.

• 1.3. For example, a student’s race, age, appearance, or any isolated instance of misbehaviour previously recorded must not be used alone or in combination with each other as the reason for suspecting that student. Reasonable suspicion cannot be based on generalisations or stereotypical images of certain groups or categories of students as more likely to be in possession of a weapon.

2. Options before a search without consent

• 2.1. The College will only use the power of search without consent if they have first exhausted other appropriate options:

  • (a) Where staff suspect a student is in possession of a prohibited item, they should seek to confirm or allay their suspicion by questioning the student;

  • (b)     If questioning confirms suspicion, staff should ask the student to surrender the prohibited item, or to turn out their pockets or allow a search of the student’s bags or possession (if relevant), reminding them about College code of conduct.

  • (c)     If the student does not surrender the prohibited item or does not allow a search with consent, or if the search is inconclusive but suspicion remains, staff should request a Campus Warden to attend so that authorised staff can carry out a search without consent.

  • (d)     If authorised staff decide a search would not be safe or a student refuses to co-operate in a search, the Authorised staff will require the student to leave the premises, with further support from Campus Wardens if required.

• 2.2. The power to search is not a duty: it should only be used where it is judged safe to do so. In particular, if it is believed that a student is carrying a weapon and is likely to resist a search physically, College staff should call the Campus Wardens to take over the search process and if this is not possible Campus Wardens will call the Police to conduct a search and remove the student, if   needed.

3. Extent of Search – Clothes and Possessions

• 3.1. A search with consent is limited under this policy to a request to surrender an item, a request to turn out pockets or to inspect a bag or item within the control of the student.

• 3.2. The power to search without consent enables a personal search, involving removal of outer clothing and the student turning out their own pockets; but not an intimate search going further than that, which only a person with more extensive powers (e.g. a police officer) can do.

• 3.3. The Authorised staff carrying out the search can require the student to remove outer clothing (e.g. a coat, jacket, pullover, boots/shoes) if it is necessary for the search. If the student does not allow a search with or without consent and Authorised staff still suspect a prohibited item is being carried, they should be asked to leave the premises with the further support of the Campus Warden team and a request that the police are advised. This option is always available: the College can stop the search at any point and request that the Police are called instead. (Resisting a police search can be a criminal offence.)

• 3.4. Authorised staff must not require a searched student to remove, and must not themselves remove, clothes beneath outerwear: e.g. trousers, skirt, sari, shirt, blouse, shalwar-kameeze (tunic and trousers), socks and tights. Nor should staff seek the voluntary removal of such clothes. Students volunteering to remove such clothes should be advised not to do so.  

4. Search of possessions:

• 4.1. The power to search (whether with or without consent) extends to a search of the student’s possessions or items over which the student has control, including (but not limited to) rucksacks, handbags, bags, electronic devices, desks, lockers, cycle lockers, gym lockers, motor vehicles.

• 4.2. Any search of a student’s personal possessions must be carried out in the presence of the student. Any search of items belonging to the College but over which the student has control (e.g. lockers) can be carried out with or without the student present. If the search of possessions or of items over which the student has control is carried out without consent or in the student’s absence, the search must be carried out by an Authorised member of staff with another member of staff as a witness.

5. Electronic devices:

• 5.1. Where a member of College staff conducting a search finds an electronic device that they reasonably suspect has been, or is likely to be, used to commit an offence, put a child at risk or cause personal injury or damage to property, they may examine any data or files on the device where there is good reason to do so.

• 5.2. Data and files on an electronic device belonging to a student must only be searched in the presence of the student. Data and files on an electronic device, account or system belonging to the College but over which the student has control can be searched without the student present. Authorised staff can request the assistance of a member of the College’s IT Department in carrying out a search of an electronic device but must remain present throughout the search.

• 5.3. Refusal to allow access to the electronic files held on a device or on an account accessed through the device (e.g., by refusing to remove/disclose a password) may be treated as grounds for confiscation of the device and/or for requiring the student to leave the premises, as appropriate. 

6. Conduct of searches

• 6.1. Reasonable steps should be taken to preserve the dignity and privacy of any searched student:

  • 6.1.1. Searching out of sight of other students or staff passing by – though privacy may not always be possible, e.g., where staff decide to search a line of students waiting to board a coach.

  • 6.1.2. Searchers should be sensitive to issues of race, culture or religion, e.g., where a student’s customary head covering, or other outer clothing has religious or cultural associations.

  • 6.1.3. Students who are Sikhs might carry, as a religious duty, a ceremonial knife (kirpan). Since this is legitimate item, staff should ask a Sikh student to declare it before being searched 

  • 6.1.4. The extent of the search should not exceed what is reasonably necessary.

7. After the Search

• 7.1. Any item surrendered without a search or found after a search (with or without consent) must be handed to, and dealt with by, Authorised staff – a receipt will be provided to provide an audit trail, and the item will be recorded in the Incident Reporting form.

• 7.2. Provided that it is reasonable in the circumstances, and subject to the following particular cases, the Authorised staff may then:

  • Retain the item temporarily and later return it to the student when the student leaves the College site (e.g. a student over 18 found in possession of alcohol contrary to College rules);

  • Retain it indefinitely; • Dispose of it or destroy it

  • Deliver it to the Police.

• 7.3. Authorised staff should consult with the Designated Safeguarding Lead if there is uncertainty over how to deal with the item.

• 7.4. The delivery of the item to the Authorised staff must be recorded in writing.

The decision regarding retention or disposal of the item and the reasons for that decision, including any advice obtained, must be recorded in writing.

• 7.5.     Particular cases:

  • Alcohol or fireworks must not be returned to a person under 18.

  • Illegal drugs should be placed in a separate, clear plastic bag or other similar receptacle and sealed, ensuring that the article can be clearly seen. The date and time should be recorded on the bag or receptacle.

  • They should be stored in a locked cupboard or safe until handed over to the police. The law permits staff in education settings to take temporary possession of a substance suspected of being a drug for the purposes of protecting a student from harm and to prevent an offence being committed in relation to that drug.

  • Without delay, notify the Police (via the named local contact or 101) who will collect it and then store and dispose of it in line with agreed local protocols.

  • Items believed to be stolen must be delivered to the police as soon as reasonably practicable, but may be returned to the owner (or disposed of if returning to the owner is not practicable) if the Authorised staff thinks there is good reason to do so. (e.g. a low value item stolen from a fellow student could be returned to the owner without police involvement; a high value item such as a laptop may need police involvement even if it can be returned to its owner).

  • Weapons or items which are evidence of an offence must be passed to the Police as soon as possible.

  • Data or files which are found on an electronic device and which have been, or could be, used to put a child at risk, cause personal injury or damage to property or break College rules (including the Safeguarding policy) can be deleted if there is good reason to do so. The Authorised staff must deliver to the police any electronic device where they reasonably suspect that:

  • Possession of any of the data or files is an offence o The data or files have been, or are likely to be, used to commit an offence o The data or files are evidence of an offence.

• 7.6. If no prohibited item is discovered by a search, the College can decide to take no further action, but should still:

  • Record the outcome on the Incident Reporting form

  • Consult with Designated Safeguarding Lead.

8. Records

• 8.1. Given that a student holding a prohibited item on College premises could also be committing a criminal offence, it is possible that the student will be arrested by the Police, and that members of staff involved in the search will be called as witnesses in a criminal prosecution. Staff conducting a search may also be open to challenge by a student or their family, whether or not a prohibited item is found.

• 8.2. A written record will be kept of any occasion when a student is searched for any prohibited item.

• 8.3. For a search with consent or request to surrender an item, the record will be made on the Incident Reporting form and should include:

  • Date, time and place of search.

  • Who carried out the search.

  • Who else was present.

  • Why the search was carried out.

  • What happened and what was said.

  • Whether any item was found or surrendered.

  • Outcomes and follow-up actions.

• 8.4. For a search without consent, the record will be made on the Incident Reporting form and should include:

  • Name, date of birth, gender, ethnicity of every student searched.

  • Any known or apparent SEND profile of the student.

  • Grounds of suspicion.

  • Date, time and place.

  • Who searched.

  • Who else was present.

  • What if any reasonable force was used, and if so why.

  • How the search began and progressed.

  • The student’s responses and how staff managed them (e.g. steps taken to calm the student).

  • What was said by the staff and student immediately prior to, during and immediately after the search.

  • Outcomes and follow-up actions.