them. This power also applies to any constable, which could be considered unique in policing as the police have very few powers to detain (as opposed to arrest) individuals. In the book'A Keeper's Tale' reference is made to taking those suspected of byelaw offences to the police station in order to verify their identities, which presumedly amounts to detention under the Epping Forest Act. Power to stop and search Epping Forest Constables do not routinely exercise such powers and there is nothing to suggest that it is within the scope of their current role to do so. Whilst the Epping Forest Act does not give a specific power to stop and search individuals, it does provide the power to 'examine' (presumably to mean to 'search') vehicles in relation to suspected byelaw offences. As Keepers are neither trained nor equipped to detain individuals, they simply do not exercise that power. The same applies to stop and search. Nonetheless they do theoretically have some stop and search powers if they are used in relation to byelaws made under the Epping Forest Act: Stolen goods The byelaws make it an offence in certain circumstances to take anything from the forest and, as such, it could be held that such items are considered to be "stolen goods" according to the definition outlined in Section 24 of the Theft Act 1968; even though the act of taking them may not necessarily be considered "theft" in accordance with the offence outlined within Section 1 of the Act. The Theft Act 1968 specifically acknowledges in Section 34.2 (b) that an item "severed from the land by stealing" can be considered stolen goods. As such, Epping Forest Constables would theoretically have a power to search an individual for stolen items, if they suspected the person to be in possession of anything taken from the Forest in contravention of by-laws, as such items could be considered to be "stolen". This power would apply whether the individual took the item or was merely in possession of it, regardless of whether they knew that such items were stolen or not. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) Codes of Practice Code A (paragraph 2.7) allows for a search to be undertaken for stolen goods even if a power of arrest may not be present, thereby allowing an Epping Forest Constable to search in order to investigate by law infringements. This could