Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has said he supports measures to cut stop-and-search bureaucracy.
Speaking to members of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), Sir Ian also cast doubts on the use of electronic hand-held devices by officers on the street.
His comments came during the MPA's monthly meeting which addressed controversial proposals for relaxing stop-and-search rules.
Measures for reducing red tape are due to be included in a long-awaited report by top policeman Sir Ronnie Flanagan on Monday.
The Police Commissioner insisted: "I think we have got to wait and see what proposals emerge from Flanagan and what proposals emerge from opposition parties. If changes are only about bureaucracy then we all agree that that is the way forward."
But he added: "We do want to do everything we can to reduce bureaucracy but I can't imagine a way where stop and search is not recorded."
The Government is expected to loosen controls on the circumstances under which individuals can be stopped, as part of a crackdown on gun and knife crime.
But the Tories are urging more radical changes, with David Cameron claiming that "far more" needed to be done to tackle weapons crime.
However Sir Ian warned the MPA should not to be swept up by "speculation".
"As far as I understand, it (the Flanagan report) hasn't proposed any changes in it as an intrusive power," he said.
