Stop and search
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity over time section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and area section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and legislation section
- 7. Navigate toData sources section
- 8. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in the year ending 31 March 2023, there were 529,474 stop and searches in England and Wales (not including vehicle searches)
- there were 8.9 stop and searches for every 1,000 people – down from 24.8 per 1,000 people in the year ending March 2010
- there were 24.5 stop and searches for every 1,000 black people, and 5.9 for every 1,000 white people
- around 33% of all stop and searches were in the Metropolitan Police force area in London
- out of all police force areas, Merseyside had the highest stop and search rate (36.4 for every 1,000 people) – it also had the highest rates for the white, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups
- Cumbria had the highest stop and search rate for the Asian ethnic group
- ethnicity was not known or recorded for 108,285 (20.5%) of all stop and searches
Further research:
Vomfell and Stewart (2021) analysed 36,000 searches by West Midlands Police between April 2014 and September 2018. Their research suggests that ethnic minorities are over-represented in stop and search compared to both their representation in the population and in crime.
Home Office analysis shows that many of the disparities in the relative rates of stop and search for ethnic groups have fallen. This can be seen when comparing rates for ethnic groups relative to the white group, using the 2021 Census population rates. But disparities still exist, and decreases are not consistent across different police force areas.
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows:
- the number of stop and searches for different ethnic groups in England and Wales
- how many stop and searches there were for every 1,000 people in each ethnic group (the ‘rate’)
Stop and search rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Unrounded data was used to work out stop and search rates and differences between ethnic groups.
How stop and search rates are calculated
For each ethnic group, the stop and search rate is the number of people stopped and searched for every 1,000 people from that group.
Rates by area are worked out using population data from:
- the 2011 Census for data up to the year ending March 2020
- the 2021 Census for data for the year ending March 2021 onwards
Read more about the problems using Census data.
Not included in the data
The City of London police force area is not included in the data. This is because of the small number of people living in the area compared with people visiting.
The data does not include vehicle searches because people’s ethnicity is not collected during these searches.
The overall stop and search rate for England and Wales includes the British Transport Police (BTP). You can also see the rate excluding BTP in the analysis by police force area. The data does not include a specific stop and search rate for BTP on its own.
The ethnic groups used in the data
This data uses different ethnicity classifications over time.
The data for:
- the 3 years to March 2023 uses the 19 ethnic groups from the 2021 Census
- the year to March 2020 uses the 18 ethnic groups from the 2011 Census
- the 13 years to March 2019 uses the 16 ethnic groups from the 2001 Census
If someone does not give their ethnicity, it is recorded as ‘unreported’. Stop and searches with unreported ethnicity are included in the rate for ‘All’ ethnic groups.
In the 13 years to March 2023, the percentage of stop and searches with unreported ethnicity went up from 5% to 20%.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
Someone who is stopped and searched is usually asked for their ethnicity. The circumstances of a stop and search may affect the accuracy of this information.
This can be seen by the high rate of stop and searches for the ‘other’ categories within most ethnic groups. For example, 46% of stop and searches of black people in the year ending March 2023 were assigned to the ‘black other’ ethnic group. The percentage for the ‘Asian other’ ethnic group is also high (39%).
Data for the last 3 years cannot be compared with previous years’ data due to the different ethnic group categories used. This means the time series data shown here only includes the years from April 2020 to March 2023.
Stop and searches are not spread evenly across England and Wales. For example, the Metropolitan Police made 66% of all stop and searches of black people in the year ending March 2023. National rates are influenced by the higher number of incidents involving certain ethnic groups in certain police force areas.
National rates are an average of all police force areas and may not reflect the rates in any individual police force areas.
You can read more about interpreting stop and search statistics, including why we no longer compare ethnic groups using relative likelihoods (such as ‘5 times as likely’) for England and Wales as a whole.
In the data file
Download the data for data from April 2006 to March 2020.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Rate of stop and search | Number of stop and searches |
|---|---|---|
| All | 8.9 | 529,474 |
| Asian | 8.5 | 46,630 |
| Bangladeshi | 8.9 | 5,739 |
| Chinese | 1.1 | 492 |
| Indian | 3.1 | 5,698 |
| Pakistani | 10.3 | 16,311 |
| Asian other | 18.9 | 18,390 |
| Black | 24.5 | 58,988 |
| Black African | 12.5 | 18,565 |
| Black Caribbean | 20.9 | 13,034 |
| Black other | 92.0 | 27,389 |
| Mixed | 9.9 | 17,002 |
| Mixed White And Asian | 4.1 | 1,995 |
| Mixed White And Black African | 7.1 | 1,769 |
| Mixed White And Black Caribbean | 10.1 | 5,178 |
| Mixed other | 17.3 | 8,060 |
| White | 5.9 | 289,109 |
| White British | 5.6 | 248,120 |
| Gypsy Or Irish Traveller | 13.1 | 890 |
| White Irish | 7.5 | 3,819 |
| Roma | 0.0 | 4 |
| White other | 9.9 | 36,276 |
| Other | 7.5 | 9,460 |
| Arab | 3.0 | 992 |
| Any Other Ethnic Background | 9.2 | 8,468 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 108,285 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Stop and search By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that, in the year ending March 2023:
- there were 529,474 stop and searches in England and Wales, at a rate of 8.9 for every 1,000 people
- ethnicity was not known for 108,285 stop and searches (20.5%)
- there were 24.5 stop and searches for every 1,000 black people, and 5.9 for every 1,000 white people
- there were 9.9 stop and searches for every 1,000 people with mixed ethnicity, and 8.5 for every 1,000 Asian people
- the black Caribbean, ‘black other’ and ‘Asian other’ ethnic groups had the highest rates of stop and search out of all ethnic groups
- there were 92 stop and searches for every 1,000 people in the 'black other' ethnic group, the highest rate out of all ethnic groups – this group includes people who did not identify as black African or black Caribbean, or were not recorded as such
4. By ethnicity over time
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2020/21 Rate of stop and search | 2020/21 Number of stop and searches | 2021/22 Rate of stop and search | 2021/22 Number of stop and searches | 2022/23 Rate of stop and search | 2022/23 Number of stop and searches |
| All | 11.7 | 697,210 | 8.7 | 516,259 | 8.9 | 529,474 |
| Asian | 13.6 | 74,976 | 8.9 | 48,901 | 8.5 | 46,630 |
| Bangladeshi | 19.4 | 12,520 | 11.5 | 7,415 | 8.9 | 5,739 |
| Chinese | 1.5 | 647 | 1.1 | 469 | 1.1 | 492 |
| Indian | 4.6 | 8,502 | 3.1 | 5,808 | 3.1 | 5,698 |
| Pakistani | 13.7 | 21,678 | 9.5 | 15,091 | 10.3 | 16,311 |
| Asian other | 32.5 | 31,629 | 20.7 | 20,118 | 18.9 | 18,390 |
| Black | 40.7 | 97,990 | 27.2 | 65,452 | 24.5 | 58,988 |
| Black African | 21.8 | 32,478 | 13.7 | 20,414 | 12.5 | 18,565 |
| Black Caribbean | 34.0 | 21,203 | 22.9 | 14,300 | 20.9 | 13,034 |
| Black other | 148.8 | 44,309 | 103.2 | 30,738 | 92.0 | 27,389 |
| Mixed | 12.5 | 21,412 | 9.4 | 16,199 | 9.9 | 17,002 |
| Mixed White And Asian | 4.7 | 2,293 | 3.7 | 1,815 | 4.1 | 1,995 |
| Mixed White And Black African | 9.2 | 2,302 | 6.9 | 1,712 | 7.1 | 1,769 |
| Mixed White And Black Caribbean | 13.2 | 6,774 | 10.1 | 5,177 | 10.1 | 5,178 |
| Mixed other | 21.5 | 10,043 | 16.0 | 7,495 | 17.3 | 8,060 |
| White | 7.4 | 359,273 | 5.6 | 273,982 | 5.9 | 289,109 |
| White British | 6.8 | 299,679 | 5.2 | 232,085 | 5.6 | 248,120 |
| Gypsy Or Irish Traveller | 8.9 | 604 | 9.1 | 615 | 13.1 | 890 |
| White Irish | 8.8 | 4,441 | 7.2 | 3,671 | 7.5 | 3,819 |
| Roma | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | 0.0 | 4 |
| White other | 14.9 | 54,549 | 10.3 | 37,611 | 9.9 | 36,276 |
| Other | 9.1 | 11,473 | 6.8 | 8,529 | 7.5 | 9,460 |
| Arab | 1.3 | 426 | 1.5 | 502 | 3.0 | 992 |
| Any Other Ethnic Background | 12.0 | 11,047 | 8.7 | 8,027 | 9.2 | 8,468 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 132,086 | N/A* | 103,196 | N/A* | 108,285 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Stop and search By ethnicity over time Summary
This data only includes the 3 years between April 2020 and March 2023. It cannot be compared to previous years because it uses different ethnic group categories and population data.
The data shows that, in the 3 years ending in March 2023:
- the stop and search rate went down from 11.7 to 8.9 stop and searches for every 1,000 people
- the rate went down in every ethnic group except the Arab, and white Gypsy or Irish traveller groups
- the rate for white people was lower than the national rate in all 3 years
- the rates for the black and mixed ethnic groups were higher than the national rate in all 3 years
- the Chinese and Arab ethnic groups had the lowest rates out of all ethnic groups in all 3 years – the ‘black other’ group had the highest
- data for the Roma ethnic group has only been collected since the year ending March 2023 and should be treated with caution
5. By ethnicity and area
| Police force area | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate per 1,000 | Rate per 1,000 | Rate per 1,000 | Rate per 1,000 | Rate per 1,000 | Rate per 1,000 | |
| All - excluding BTP | 8.7 | 8.3 | 23.7 | 9.5 | 5.8 | 7.3 |
| All - including BTP | 8.9 | 8.5 | 24.5 | 9.9 | 5.9 | 7.5 |
| Avon & Somerset | 3.6 | 2.1 | 11.8 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 4.7 |
| Bedfordshire | 5.4 | 6.0 | 12.2 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 4.5 |
| British Transport Police | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* |
| Cambridgeshire | 3.1 | 3.3 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 3.7 |
| Cheshire | 10.9 | 2.6 | 31.1 | 11.8 | 8.7 | 10.6 |
| Cleveland | 12.0 | 8.0 | 18.3 | 17.6 | 9.7 | 15.1 |
| Cumbria | 8.7 | 23.2 | 40.2 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 20.4 |
| Derbyshire | 1.9 | 3.3 | 6.0 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Devon & Cornwall | 3.4 | 2.2 | 10.8 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| Dorset | 2.4 | 2.5 | 26.0 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 2.4 |
| Durham | 5.2 | 3.5 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 3.7 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 15.8 | 11.8 | 34.2 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 2.1 |
| Essex | 8.6 | 4.9 | 13.6 | 8.3 | 6.1 | 8.4 |
| Gloucestershire | 3.2 | 2.5 | 13.1 | 7.8 | 2.8 | 4.8 |
| Greater Manchester | 10.2 | 10.5 | 18.7 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 5.2 |
| Gwent | 3.7 | 5.5 | 17.9 | 6.3 | 2.8 | 4.4 |
| Hampshire | 5.1 | 3.1 | 16.9 | 6.8 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
| Hertfordshire | 5.5 | 4.2 | 14.3 | 6.2 | 4.2 | 5.2 |
| Humberside | 5.3 | 3.3 | 9.3 | 6.6 | 4.3 | 5.5 |
| Kent | 6.9 | 3.7 | 13.1 | 9.1 | 5.3 | 10.0 |
| Lancashire | 7.7 | 10.3 | 17.1 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 3.5 |
| Leicestershire | 5.9 | 3.7 | 13.6 | 6.7 | 4.4 | 2.6 |
| Lincolnshire | 4.1 | 4.5 | 15.8 | 6.0 | 3.5 | 5.5 |
| London, City of | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* | N/A* |
| Merseyside | 36.4 | 15.0 | 45.1 | 29.1 | 33.3 | 51.5 |
| Metropolitan Police | 19.9 | 10.6 | 32.8 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 9.5 |
| Norfolk | 4.2 | 2.2 | 16.1 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 9.6 |
| North Wales | 5.2 | 3.6 | 11.6 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 7.1 |
| North Yorkshire | 3.7 | 4.5 | 8.2 | 5.8 | 2.9 | 6.0 |
| Northamptonshire | 4.8 | 4.1 | 11.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 2.7 |
| Northumbria | 3.8 | 4.6 | 7.8 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 0.6 |
| Nottinghamshire | 4.1 | 3.7 | 9.9 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
| South Wales | 5.4 | 4.5 | 14.9 | 6.4 | 4.7 | 5.8 |
| South Yorkshire | 8.0 | 9.5 | 13.4 | 8.6 | 5.8 | 5.3 |
| Staffordshire | 3.9 | 5.5 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Suffolk | 5.3 | 3.0 | 22.8 | 6.5 | 4.1 | 15.1 |
| Surrey | 4.0 | 3.3 | 15.9 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| Sussex | 3.2 | 2.7 | 15.9 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 4.4 |
| Thames Valley | 5.6 | 3.6 | 8.9 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 1.8 |
| Warwickshire | 2.0 | 2.5 | 10.4 | 4.6 | 1.5 | 2.9 |
| West Mercia | 3.1 | 8.0 | 16.5 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 4.2 |
| West Midlands | 8.7 | 10.5 | 15.9 | 19.1 | 5.5 | 0.3 |
| West Yorkshire | 7.5 | 11.8 | 15.5 | 13.3 | 5.1 | 4.6 |
| Wiltshire | 2.4 | 1.4 | 8.1 | 3.9 | 1.8 | 0.4 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Stop and search By ethnicity and area Summary
The data shows that, in the year ending March 2023:
- the Metropolitan Police in London made 33% of all stop and searches in England and Wales
- the stop and search rate for every 1,000 people was 19.9 in the Metropolitan Police area, and 7.0 in the rest of England and Wales
- there were 36.4 stop and searches for every 1,000 people in Merseyside – the highest rate out of all police force areas
- the stop and search rate for every 1,000 black people was 32.8 in the Metropolitan Police area, and 16.4 in the rest of England and Wales
- Derbyshire had the lowest overall rate, at 1.9 stop and searches for every 1,000 people
- Merseyside had the highest rates for the white, black, ‘other’ and mixed ethnic groups
- Cumbria had the highest rate for the Asian ethnic group
- in Dorset, the stop and search rate for black people was 13.8 times higher than for white people – the biggest difference between white people and another ethnic group out of all police force areas
- in Warwickshire, the stop and search rate for black people was around 7 times higher than for white people, and in the Metropolitan Police area it was around 2.9 times higher
- in West Mercia, the rate for Asian people was 3.2 times higher than for white people
- the rate for people with mixed ethnicity was around 3.5 times the rate for white people in both Derbyshire and the West Midlands
6. By ethnicity and legislation
| All | Section 1 (PACE) | Section 60 (CJPOA) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | All % of searches under this legislation | All Number of stop and searches | Section 1 (PACE) % of searches under this legislation | Section 1 (PACE) Number of stop and searches | Section 60 (CJPOA) % of searches under this legislation | Section 60 (CJPOA) Number of stop and searches |
| All | 100.0 | 421,189 | 100.0 | 418,089 | 100.0 | 3,100 |
| Asian | 11.1 | 46,630 | 11.0 | 46,071 | 18.0 | 559 |
| Black | 14.0 | 58,988 | 14.0 | 58,380 | 19.6 | 608 |
| Mixed | 4.0 | 17,002 | 4.0 | 16,842 | 5.2 | 160 |
| White | 68.6 | 289,109 | 68.7 | 287,409 | 54.8 | 1,700 |
| Other | 2.2 | 9,460 | 2.2 | 9,387 | 2.4 | 73 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 108,285 | N/A* | 107,147 | N/A* | 1,138 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and legislation’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and legislation’ (CSV)
Summary of Stop and search By ethnicity and legislation Summary
This data covers stop and search under the following 3 pieces of legislation:
- section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (‘PACE’), and associated legislation including section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 – the police can stop and search someone based on reasonable grounds that they think is carrying items like stolen property or drugs
- section 44/47A of the Terrorism Act 2000 – the police can stop and search someone if they suspect an act of terrorism is about to take place
- section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 – the police can stop and search someone in a defined area at a specific time when the police believes there is a possibility of serious violence, or weapons are involved)
The data shows that, between April 2022 and March 2023:
- 99% of all stop and searches in England and Wales were under PACE section 1
- 1% of stop and searches were under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act
- no stop and searches were under section 44/47A of the Terrorism Act, so data is not included in the chart and table
- out of the 3,100 section 60 searches with recorded ethnicity, 1,700 (55%) involved white people and 608 (20%) involved black people
- 1,138 section 60 stop and searches involved people whose ethnicity was not recorded
7. Data sources
Source
Stop and search and arrests: England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2023
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Home Office
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Figures on arrests and stop and search reported to the Home Office are used to create greater transparency in the use of police powers in England and Wales. They make the police more accountable by enabling the public to monitor them locally and nationally.
The data is used to form a national picture of the trends in arrests and stop and search. It informs discussions about crime, policing and criminal justice in government and academia, and ensures the public are accurately informed.
8. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, police force area, legislation type, number of stop and searches, rate of stop and search, proportion of stop and searches, population estimates