GOWISELY

The information a constable must give before a stop and search, set by PACE section 2 and Code A, and the mnemonic recruits learn it by.

The expansion

G: grounds for the search
O: object of the search
W: warrant card, if the officer is not in uniform
I: identity of the officer
S: station the officer is attached to
E: entitlement to a copy of the search record
L: legal power being used
Y: you are detained for the purpose of a search

What it is for

A search is lawful only if the officer takes reasonable steps to tell the person certain things before it starts. GOWISELY is the list recruits carry so nothing is left out on the street. The law itself is in PACE section 2 and Code A.

Where it comes from

Section 2(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 makes it the constable's duty, before a search under section 1 or most other search powers, "to take reasonable steps before he commences the search to bring to the attention of the appropriate person" documentary evidence that they are a constable if not in uniform, and the matters in section 2(3): "the constable's name and the name of the police station to which he is attached; the object of the proposed search; the constable's grounds for proposing to make it; and the effect of section 3(7) or (8) below", which is the entitlement to a record.

Code A paragraph 3.8 sets out the same list: that they are being detained for the purposes of a search; the officer's name (or warrant number in national security cases or where giving a name might put the officer in danger) and station; "the legal search power which is being exercised"; a clear explanation of the object of the search and, for powers needing reasonable suspicion, "the grounds for that suspicion"; and that they are "entitled to a copy of the record of the search if one is made" if they ask within three months.

Norfolk Constabulary's Stop and Search Policy (version 3.4, published 5 February 2026) uses the mnemonic by name: "GOWISELY is the minimum amount of information that must be given to the person stopped." It also tells officers to say "you are detained" at the earliest opportunity.

When it is used

Before every search of a person or attended vehicle under section 1 PACE, section 23 Misuse of Drugs Act, section 60 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act and the other powers Code A covers. Section 2 does not apply to an unattended vehicle.

Read on this site

Sources

Last updated 19 October 2026. Reviewed 19 October 2026