StopWatch formed in 2010 as a coalition of academics, activists, marginalised youth, and legal experts seeking to challenge police use of stop and search powers by drawing attention to the realities for those on the receiving end of them.

StopWatch is working towards a world with safe and thriving communities.

We imagine supportive public safety infrastructure that enables communities to live without fear of disproportionate violence and threat.

What is our mission?

StopWatch uses research, advocacy, litigation and community engagement to understand the impacts of disproportionate policing – primarily but not exclusively through the lens of stop and search – advocate for more effective public safety practices and hold the police to account.

How can we achieve our goals?

The police’s current practices – including that of stop and search – are incompatible with our vision of supporting public safety infrastructure that enables communities to live without fear of disproportionate violence and threat.

We seek to change this.

Our research, resources, and communications enable communities to build shared analysis and take collective action for their safety. We help translate intelligence that lives in the community into policy advocacy, litigation, and community engagement projects – pushing for limits on the reach and powers of the police to mitigate and eradicate disproportionality and injustice.

By connecting and engaging with impacted communities, sector / grassroots groups, and policymakers, we aim to:

Translate evidence and data into stories, analysis, recommendations and demands
Reveal the structural and systemic racism inherent in policing practices
Support overpoliced communities to connect their experiences to the broader structures to build shared analysis and collective demands
Facilitate dialogue between impacted communities and policymakers
Share harm reduction practices, tools, and resources (including legal rights education) that support public safety
Disseminate counternarratives around effectiveness, disproportionality, and policing by consent, to catalyse change

Over the last 15 years, our dedication and commitment to the cause has effectively reframed both the sector and the wider public's understanding of stop and search and disproportionate policing. But the fight for justice for marginalised and racialised communities is far from over. If you are interested, please join us via the contact details below. We'd very much welcome your support.

Our team

Habib Kadiri

Executive director

Habib joined StopWatch as research and policy manager in April 2021 and became executive director of research and policy in spring 2023. His relationship with the organisation dates back to 2018, when he joined as a volunteer in a research and communications capacity. Drawing upon over a decade’s experience from public health and digital rights charities, Habib’s interests lie with the emerging scope of policing technologies for mass surveillance of racial minorities from marginalised communities and the risk they pose to citizens’ civil liberties and human rights.

habib@stop-watch.org

Rachel Zerihan

Operations manager

Rachel manages our organisational infrastructure. This includes coordinating workstreams and projects, being responsible for budgets and outputs, arranging meetings and events, managing client and stakeholder relationships and providing support to staff and trustees. Prior to joining StopWatch, Rachel worked in higher education as a lecturer in contemporary performance. She has always been interested in the relationship between politics and performance, and the ways in which rights and activism intersect with creative practices. She is currently completing training to become a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist.

rachel@stop-watch.org

Rebecca Dooley

Legal advocacy manager

Rebecca leads our legal advocacy, supporting individuals to make a complaint or seek legal advice as well as developing strategic litigation. She also focuses on youth and community engagement, raising awareness and creating opportunities for those impacted by stop and search to influence policy. Before joining StopWatch, Rebecca qualified as a solicitor at a leading civil liberties firm. She worked on claims against the police, prisons and the Home Office and represented Core Participants in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

rebecca@stop-watch.org

Jodie Bradshaw

Policy advocacy lead

Jodie leads our policy campaigning and research, advocating for evidence-based reforms to challenge disproportionate use of police powers and force against marginalised communities. They specialise in areas such as stop and search, Section 60, strip searches, traffic stops, civil orders and the use of data-driven technologies in policing. Jodie is also a PhD student at University College London, researching anti-racist activism in Britain and France. Before joining StopWatch, they worked for a Member of Parliament and in the charity sector.

jodie@stop-watch.org

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