ENCOUNTERS in the street between police officers and members of the public in Wyre Forest will now be recorded in a bid to improve confidence in policing.

Whenever a person is stopped in public by an officer, special constable or community support officer, a written record will be made of the reasons why.

Supt John Molloy, of West Mercia Constabulary, said: "The use of powers to stop or search people is an important policing tool and we encourage its use in order to gather useful intelligence, detect crime and make communities safer.

"However, we can only police with the consent of the public and it is important that we record information about such encounters, whenever it is possible to do so, in order to retain and improve public confidence."

The new procedure came into effect from last Friday. An encounter is defined as any time when a member of police staff speaks to a member of the public, in a public place, with the intention of obtaining information from them.

Examples include asking them to give accounts of their actions or behaviour or explaining their presence in an area or their possession of something.

Like other forces around the country, West Mercia officers and staff will complete a form recording the details and a copy will be given to the person stopped. Officers will not complete forms if they are called away urgently, for some traffic-related incidents and in disorder situations involving several people.

Peter Dunford, West Mercia Police Authority's lead member on stop and search issues, said: "We fully support this new recording procedure as it will improve trust and confidence in policing across all communities served by the force.

"West Mercia Constabulary must be able to demonstrate that it polices with integrity."