What do you say to the rozzers when you get stopped for something petty?

By rights, as an acquaintance of yours, your friend should have been searched under Section 44 as well. I'm taking a guess that after continual misuse of this law, you're not exactly feeling that 'if you've got nothing to hide...' vibe?

Yeah I'm not exactly feeling the whole nothing to hide vibe. It's really embarrassing! I've got tons of examples too. Another time I was coming home from uni for a week so I had 2 big bags and a BMX on the circle line (going from Euston Sq. to Liverpool Street), some BTP get on and I shit you not get me to empty out a week's worth of stuff. They refused to fucking hold it too so I had to put clean clothes on the dirty floor of a tube, and not to mention over a grand's worth of electronics just on display. I could have quite easily been mugged 5 minutes later by someone watching the whole thing.

Somthing about my face screams search me, and I want to know what. I don't look like your typical terrorist, a lot of people say I look quite American!

I don't disagree with you that S44 is entirely abused, and has probably been correctly used about 3.5 times.

Did it happen in London, by the way? Did the officers provide you with their authorisation to search you under section 44?

It's happened in loads of places, London, Essex, Liverpool, Manchester, on a variety of modes of transport. Bus, Tube, Train, BMX, Fixed Gear bike, car, even walking out and about.

I've never been given any sort of formal authorisation, but the fact is I am shit scared of answering back or arguing in case I get banged up for 28 days or whatever the fuck it is.

The only way I know I'm being stopped under S44 is when they tell me they're going to search me because S44 says they can. I get humiliate.d and a bit of paper that I have to sign