The Rise and Fall of 'Stop and Account': Lessons for Police Accountability

The police have for many centuries engaged in the practice of stopping people in public spaces and asking them to account for themselves through such questions as 'What are you doing here?' and 'Where are you going?' This chapter reflects on the rise and fall of policy concern about 'stop and account', and draws out more general lessons about the possiblity of entrenching meaningful accountability measures where routine street policing is concerned. The core argument is that the recording of street policing for accountability purposes is only likely to be successful if citizens, rather than the police, create the relevant records.