Police in London stopped and searched 325,657 people and vehicles in the12 months from January to December 2020. The number of searches has generally increased over the past two years.66% of searches in that period were for drugs, with 78% of all searches resulting in no further action. Searches are heavily concentrated in some areas – half of all searches occurred in 10% of neighbourhoods

Ashby, M

English

UCL Discovery

INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL CITY POLICINGStop and searchin LondonJanuary to December 2020Dr Matt Ashby | May 2021Main pointsPolice in London stopped and searched 325,657 people and vehicles in the12 months from January to December 2020. The number of searches hasgenerally increased over the past two years.66% of searches in that period were for drugs, with 78% of all searches resultingin no further action.Searches are heavily concentrated in some areas – half of all searches occurredin 10% of neighbourhoods.IntroductionStop and search is a legal power that allows police officers to search people to find out ifthey are carrying prohibited items such as drugs, weapons or stolen goods. Stop andsearch means officers can confirm if a person is or is not in possession of contrabandwithout arresting them and taking them to a police station, but it is also a source oftension between police and communities. A review by the College of Policing foundlittle relationship between how many searches police do and how much crime occurs,but police insist stop and search helps them fight crime. Stop and Search in Londonreports analyse stop and search in London over the past 12 months and are updatedevery three months.Mar 2019May 2020Aug 2020before 2018, only annual counts ofsearches were published by the Home Office020,00040,00060,0002009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021number of searches per monthlabelled months are anomalies with unusually high/low numbers of stopsFigure 1: Number of stop-and-searches in London, January 2018 to December 2020Between January and December 2020, police officers in London carried out 325,657stop-and-searches, or about 6,263 per week. Of those, 97% were conducted by theMetropolitan Police, 2% by British Transport Police and 1% by City of London Police.Across the three forces, 74% of stops were of pedestrians, 24% of people in vehicles and2% of only vehicles.2 65.5%  0.5%  1.0%  10.7%  4.7%  17.5% unknownotherfirearmsstolen goodsweaponsdrugs0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000number of searchesFigure 2: Searches by type of object being searched for, January to December 2020The number of searches carried out in January to December 2020 was a year-on-yearincrease of 20% (Figure 1). This increase was consistent with the long-term upwardtrend, with stops having increased by 3% per month (31% per year) on average overthe past two years. Prior to 2018, the number of searches had decreased every year since2009, dropping by 81% in nine years.What items are people searched for?Police officers are empowered to search people for different items – including drugs,items to use in theft or criminal damage, stolen goods, weapons and even some fireworks– under different acts of parliament. Although police emphasise that stop and search“protects Londoners by taking weapons off the streets”, only about one in six searchesbetween January and December 2020 were for weapons – 66% of searches were fordrugs (Figure 2).searches for drugs searches for weapons searches for stolen goods searches for firearms'18 '19 '20 '18 '19 '20 '18 '19 '20 '18 '19 '20x1x2x3x4change in searches compared to Jan 2018Figure 3: Change in number of searches by type, January 2018 to December 2020About 94% of searches are looking for the four main types of contraband: drugs,firearms, stolen goods and weapons. In the past 12 months, the number of searches forweapons and stolen goods have significantly decreased (Figure 3).3Mar 2019Jan 2020Apr 2020 Aug 2020 Jul 2018Mar 2019Jan 2020 May 2020searches under CJPOA s. 60(based on authorisation)searches under PACE s. 1(based on reasonable suspicion)Jun '18 Dec '18 Jun '19 Dec '19 Jun '20 Dec '20 Jun '18 Dec '18 Jun '19 Dec '19 Jun '20 Dec '2002,0004,0006,000number of searcheshighlighted months are anomalies with unusually high/low numbers of stopsFigure 4: Change in number of searches for weapons, January 2018 to December 2020Police can search people for weapons using two different legal powers. Searches undersection 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) require the officer tohave “reasonable grounds for suspecting” that the person is carrying an offensive weaponor other prohibited item. Conversely, officers can search people under section 60 of theCriminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA) without having any reason tothink the person has a weapon, as long as a more-senior officer believes “incidentsinvolving serious violence may take place” in the area. These ‘section 60’ searches areparticularly controversial because they allow officers to search anyone in an area, even ifthere is no reason to think they have a weapon in their possession. Between January andDecember 2020, 88% of weapons searches were based on reasonable suspicion underPACE section 1, with the remaining 12% (6,712 searches) were conducted without theneed for suspicion based on authorisations under CJPOA section 60. Police do notpublish any information about authorisations made under section 60 so it is difficult totrack any patterns or trends, although section-60 searches are typically higher in Augustdue to the Notting Hill Carnival, which was cancelled in 2020.Searches based on reasonable suspicion the person being searched is carrying a weaponhave decreased by about 2% per month on average over the past 12 months (Figure 4). Incomparison to that trend, the number of these searches was anomalously high in March2019, January 2020 and May 2020 but anomalously low in July 2018. No-suspicionsearches under section 60 have decreased by about 31% per month on average over thepast 12 months, with searches having been anomalously high in August 2018, March2019, January 2020 and May 2020 but anomalously low in April 2020 and August 2020.The number of searches under section 60 is often higher in August because of searchesassociated with the Notting Hill Carnival.4men aged over 34 identifying as Blackmen aged 25−34 identifying as Whiteboys aged 10−17 identifying as Asianboys aged 10−17 identifying as Mixedmen aged 25−34 identifying as Mixedmen aged 25−34 identifying as Asianboys aged 10−17 identifying as Whitemen aged 18−24 identifying as Mixedmen aged 18−24 identifying as Whiteboys aged 10−17 identifying as Blackmen aged 18−24 identifying as Asianmen aged 25−34 identifying as Blackmen aged 18−24 identifying as Blackall people0 100 200 300 400 500searches per 1,000 peopleFigure 5: Search rates for different demographic groups, January to December 2020Who do police search?Of the 320,298 searches of pedestrians and vehicle occupants from January to December2020, 93% were searches of men or boys. Of all people searched, 18% were aged under18, 39% were between 18 and 24, and 43% were 25 or older. The self-defined ethnicity ofthe person searched was known for 77% of searches, of which 41% of people describedthemselves as white, 33% as Black/Black British and 18% as Asian/Asian British.Search rates vary hugely across different groups. Of the 32 combinations of sex, ageand self-defined ethnicity present in the search data, 13 groups were searched at a higherrate than the rate for the population as a whole (Figure 5). While disparity betweenethnic groups has generated much comment, being male and being aged under 35 aremore-powerful predictors of a group having a higher search rate than that group beingnon-white. The reasons for these differences are likely to be complex: many types ofoffending are concentrated among some groups (particularly young men) as well as insome neighbourhoods, and there are longstanding issues of bias and stereotyping amongpolice and in society. There is also an interaction between factors such as deprivationand the amount of time people spend in public (where almost-all searches occur). Thereis no way to know from the data analysed here what combination of these factors drivesthe disparities in search rates.In comparison to the population as a whole, men aged 18-24 identifying as Black (thegroup with the highest search rate) are on-average 19 times more likely to be stoppedand searched. Disparities in search rates also vary according to the type of search.Disparity is highest in searches for weapons (based on reasonable suspicion), for whichmen aged 18-24 identifying as Black were 28 times more likely to be searched than thepopulation at large. Of the 32 combinations of age, ethnic-group and sex present in thedata, the rate of searches was highest for all five of the main types of search for men aged18-24 who identified as Black. It is important to note that these disparity ratios only5searches for drugs searches forstolen goodssearches forfirearmssearches forweapons (basedon reasonablesuspicion)searches forweapons (based onauthorisation)'18 '19 '20 '18 '19 '20 '18 '19 '20 '18 '19 '20 '18 '19 '200%10%20%30%proportion resulting in a formal outcomeFigure 6: Change in proportion of searches with a formal outcome, January 2018 to De-cember 2020represent average search rates for different groups – they do not reflect the individualexperience of everyone in each group. It is likely that a small number of people in eachgroup are being searched repeatedly while others are searched far less often, but sincepolice do not publish data on repeated searches it is difficult to know how this affectsoverall search rates.How often do police find items during searches?The purpose of stop and search is to “enable officers to allay or confirm suspicions aboutindividuals without exercising their power of arrest” (PACE Code A, paragraph 1.4). Assuch, a search that does not find what is being searched for can be considered successfulif it prevents an innocent person being arrested and a police officer being taken off thestreet unnecessarily. There is not necessarily an optimal proportion of searches thatshould result in the officer finding what they are looking for. Measuring outcomes is alsodifficult: officers may have legitimate grounds to search a group of people (e.g. all theoccupants in a vehicle believed to contain a firearm) when only one person hascontraband in their possession. Nevertheless, all searches are an “intrusion on the libertyof the person” (PACE Code A, paragraph 1.2) and high proportions of searches that donot find anything may indicate that searches are not well targeted.The data released by the Home Office do not specify whether or not the item police werelooking for was found during a search. Instead, we can measure whether a search resultedin some formal criminal-justice process such as an arrest. This is not a perfect measure ofwhether an item was found during a search, because a person might be arrested for someother reason (for example because there was an outstanding warrant for their arrest) orcontraband might be found but police deal with it informally. Nevertheless, this is theleast-worst measure of search outcomes that is currently available.6 26%  27%  31%  17%  26%  24%  24%  31%  22%  28%  25%  27%  30%  18%  25%  10%  11%  12%  6%  10%  17%  18%  21%  12%  19% drugs firearms stolen goodsweapons (basedonauthorisation)weapons (basedon reasonablesuspicion)0% 10% 20% 0% 10% 20% 0% 10% 20% 0% 10% 20% 0% 10% 20%OtherAsianWhiteBlackMixedFigure 7: Proportion of searches resulting in a formal outcome, January toDecember 2020Overall, about 22% of searches between January and December 2020 resulted in a formalcriminal-justice outcome (arrest, charge by post, caution, fixed penalty,community/local resolution or drugs warning), while the remaining 78% of searchesresulted in no further action. Over the past year, searches for drugs have been mostlikely to lead to a formal outcome, while 90% of searches for weapons under a section 60authorisation resulted in no further action.In the past 12 months, the proportion of searches for weapons (based on reasonablesuspicion) resulting in a formal outcome have increased (Figure 6). When a stop doesresult in formal action, the most common outcome is arrest (used in 52% of cases with aformal outcome). However, which action police choose varies with the type of search:82% of positive searches for firearms result in arrest, compared to only 38% of positivesearches for drugs. The outcomes of some searches suggest that the outcome does notrelate to the type of contraband that police were looking for. For example, fixedpenalties are not a legally available option for dealing with weapons or firearms offences,but 6% of formal outcomes to searches for weapons based on reasonable suspicion, 13%of formal outcomes to searches for weapons based on section-60 authorisations and 9%of formal outcomes to searches for firearms were fixed penalties. This suggests that someweapons and firearms searches result in police not finding weapons but discoveringmore-minor offences such as cannabis possession.While the rate of searches varies between ethnic groups, the probability of a searchresulting in a formal criminal-justice outcome is broadly the same across ethnicities –over the past six months, the probability of a formal outcome to searches of Black orAsian people was not significantly different from the probabilty of a formal outcome tosearches of White people for any of the main search types (Figure 7).Where do stops happen?Stop and search is geographically concentrated in some parts of London: half ofsearches between January and December 2020 occurred in 10% of neighbourhoods.Searches are also concentrated in deprived areas: 69% of searches took place in7neighbourhoods that were more deprived than average. In particular, 80% of searches forweapons under section 60 occurred in the most-deprived half of neighbourhoods.Of the 33 boroughs in London, the most searches in January to December 2020 tookplace in Westminster (1,585 searches per month), Newham (1,444) and Tower Hamlets(1,276), while the fewest took place in City of London (185 searches), Richmond uponThames (250) and Bexley (306). We can identify search hotspots by mapping thenumber of searches in a grid of about equally-sized cells (Figure 8).Of the 657 local-authority wards in London, the ward with the most searches betweenJanuary and December 2020 was West End ward in Westminster, in which there weremore searches than in the entire boroughs of Merton, Sutton, Bexley, Richmond uponThames or City of London (Table 1).Searches for weapons under section 60 can only take place in areas in which an inspector(a second-line supervisor) believes “incidents involving serious violence may take place”.Of the 6,712 no-suspicion searches under section 60 from January to December 2020,more than half (53%) took place in seven of the 33 boroughs in London (with 14% inCroydon borough alone).A note on dataThis report uses data published by the Home Office at data.police.uk under the OpenGovernment Licence version 3.0 for searches conducted by the Metropolitan PoliceService or City of London Police, or by British Transport Police at a location in London.Search rates are calculated using 2020 estimates of the London population by age andethnic group produced by the Mayor of London. Rates based on residential populationsare imperfect because some people being searched in London will live outside London,but the vast majority of people searched in London are likely to also live in the region.All ethnicity figures in this report are self-defined ethnicities.This report is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence version 4.0,meaning you are free to copy or redistribute this material in any medium or format, andto remix, transform, and build upon this material for any purpose, even commercially,as long as you comply with the licence terms.Thank you to Ben Bradford, Gavin Hales and Paul Quinton for comments on drafts ofthis report. Cover photo by Collins Lesulie on Unsplash.com8City ofLondonBarking &DagenhamBarnetBexleyBrentBromleyCamdenCroydonEalingEnfieldGreenwichHackneyHammersmith& FulhamHaringeyHarrowHaveringHillingdonHounslowIslingtonKingstonuponThamesLambethLewishamMertonNewhamRedbridgeRichmonduponThamesSuttonTowerHamletsWalthamForestWandsworthWestminster1st. Oxford Circus2nd. Piccadilly4th. Covent Garden10th. Bloomsbury11th. King's Cross12th. Brixton 3rd. Croydon Town Centre5th. Whitechapel6th. Stratford7th. Shoreditch8th. Bethnal Green9th. AldgateFigure 8: Hotspots of searches, January to December 2020Table 1: Local authority wards with the highest number of searches, January to December 2020council ward searches1. West End ward, Westminster 4,3492. St James’s ward, Westminster 3,4933. Stratford and New Town ward, Newham 3,3184. Broad Green ward, Croydon 3,1235. Abbey ward, Barking and Dagenham 2,8136. Woolwich Riverside ward, Greenwich 2,6507. Fairfield ward, Croydon 2,4768. St Peter’s ward, Tower Hamlets 2,1379. Whitechapel ward, Tower Hamlets 2,07910. London Bridge & West Bermondsey ward, Southwark 2,02011. Tottenham Green ward, Haringey 1,95912. Northumberland Park ward, Haringey 1,8749

Stop and search in London: January to December 2020

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Stop and search in London: January to December 2020

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