The police also have powers to detain you and/or your vehicle (if it is with you) and to search for offensive weapons and dangerous instruments if it is believed that incidents of serious violence may soon take place in the locality or that persons are carrying dangerous instruments or offensive weapons in the locality. A senior officer must give written authority, which will be held at the local police station.

There are also powers to stop and search vehicles and their occupants and pedestrians (s44) in an area by a police officer in uniform if a senior officer authorises it to prevent acts of terrorism. A police officer may stop and search a person whom they reasonably suspect to be a terrorist, to discover whether that person has in their possession anything which might constitute evidence that a person is a terrorist (s.43).