Stop Search data Q3 2022-23
Key findings
For the 3rd fiscal quarter of 2022-2023 (Oct - Dec 2022):
Wiltshire Police have recorded 448 Stop and Searches.
The highest proportion of Stop and Searches were conducted within the Swindon Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) area, contributing to 57.6% of the total. This is followed by Trowbridge NPT which contributed 11.4% to the total.
Of the total volume of Stop and Searches, 58.7% involved the search for a controlled drug. Of the same total, 13.9% had multiple search reasons attached to the record.
The proportion of Stop and Searches resulting in police action was 33.5%, with 13.4% of the total resulting in an arrest. Those that resulted in no further action equated to 68.1%.
Of the total volume of Stop and Searches, 67.8% of cases resulted in no object being found and with 31.3% resulted in an object being found. Of the searches resulting in an object found, 28.5% were objects related to the reason for the Stop and Search.
Data to the 12 months ending Dec-22 demonstrates that those belonging to an ethnic minority group are 0.7 times more likely to be stopped (per 1,000 population) than those identifying as White ethnicity.
- Asian Ethnicity Group – 0.5 in every 1,000
- Black Ethnicity Group – 2.1 in every 1,000
- Arab or ‘other’ Ethnicity Group – 0.0 in every 1,000
- Mixed Ethnicity Group – 0.7 in every 1,000
- White Ethnicity Group – 0.4 in every 1,000
Wiltshire Police are heavily involved in proactive operations to tackle youth violence and County Lines and as a result 59% of those people stopped were under the age of 25. The youngest person Stop and Searched during this period was 12 years old and the oldest was 66 years old.
Of the 448 Stop and Searches recorded, 12.3% (55) were conducted between the hours of 11pm and midnight.
Stop and searches by CPT location
Community Policing Team (CPT) |
Percentage of stop searches |
| Swindon CPT | 57.2% |
| Trowbridge CPT | 11.3% |
| Chippenham CPT | 10.9% |
| Warminster CPT | 4.9% |
| Royal Wootton Bassett CPT | 4.4% |
| Salisbury CPT | 4.0% |
| Devizes CPT | 3.8% |
| Amesbury CPT | 2.7% |
The above table shows the volume of Stop and Searches recorded across Wiltshire's police force area. Swindon CPT have recorded the largest proportion of Stop and Searches, followed by Trowbridge CPT, Chippenham CPT and Salisbury CPT.
Swindon continues to be the most impacted by County Lines due to its location on the M4 corridor and its transport connections to London. Of the Stop and Searches in the Swindon CPT area, 60.1% were related to controlled drugs.in 24.8% of these cases, the object searched for was found and 12% of these resulted in an arrest.
In this last quarter section 60 search powers were used for the first time in 3 years in the response to an incident of serious violence. The decision was not taken lightly and the views of our independent advisory group were sought before taking action. The use of this power was then reviewed by our external scrutiny panel who supported this action.
In the Trowbridge area, 66.7% of Stop Searches were related to controlled drugs. In 41.2% of cases, the object searched for was found and 52.9% of these resulted in police action.
Salisbury has seen an increase in County Lines activity and Stop and Searches continue to increase, most significantly in the city centre.
|
Reason |
Number |
Percentage of total |
| Controlled Drugs | 263 | 58.30% |
| Offensive weapon | 116 | 25.70% |
| Theft related | 82 | 18.20% |
| Criminal damage | 7 | 1.60% |
| Public order related | 0 | 0% |
| Other crime related | 4 | 0.90% |
| Traffic related | 0 | 0% |
| Reason not recorded | 0 | 0% |
For each recorded Stop and Search, there is the option to have multiple reasons for why the Stop Search was conducted. This results in a larger volume of recorded search reasons compared to the total volume of Stop and Searches.
For the most recent quarter, this has resulted in 13.9% of Stop and Searches being connected to more than one search reason.
58.7% of Stop and Searches involved the search for a controlled drug.
As part of a Stop and Search, we must define whether any object was found as part of that search.
Of the 448 Stop and Searches recorded, 67.8% resulted in no object being found and 31.3% resulted in an object found.
29% related to the intended object that was being searched for, meaning that 2.3% of searches found an object not of the original search.
At present we are developing the ability to report on the results of those objects found through data extraction software and hope to report on this soon.
|
Police action taken |
Number |
Percentage |
| Object Found-NFA | 23 | 5.10% |
| Nothing found-NFA | 270 | 60.30% |
| Police action taken | 150 | 33.50% |
| Outcome not stated | 5 | 1.10% |
It should be noted that one Stop and Search can have multiple outcomes.
Of the 432 Stop and Searches recorded, 68.1% ended with no further action to be taken. 25.5% resulted in police action, 52.4% of which resulted in arrest.
Disproportionality refers to a situation in which racial or ethnic groups are represented at a higher proportion than other racial or ethnic groups. It looks at the relative ratios of those people Stop and Searched as a proportion of the resident population in the specified area.
Wiltshire population data is based on the 2021 Census
During this fiscal quarter, on average 0.7 in every 1,000 of Wiltshire's population who identify as belonging to an ethnic minority group were Stop and Searched. This further breaks down into the following ethnicity categories:
- Asian Ethnicity Group – 0.5 in every 1,000;
- Black Ethnicity Group – 2.1 in every 1,000;
- Arab or ‘other’ Ethnicity Group – 0.0 in every 1,000;
- Mixed Ethnicity Group – 0.7 in every 1,000;
- White Ethnicity Group – 0.4 in every 1,000.
Ethnic group |
12 months to Dec 2021 |
12 months to Dec 2022 |
| Arab or other ethnic group | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| Asian or Asian British | 0.8% | 1.3% |
| Black or Black British | 4.0% | 5.3% |
| Mixed | 1.0% | 1.8% |
| Ethnic Minority total | 1.3% | 1.8% |
Year on year stop search - proportionality v white ethnicity
The 12 months to Dec-22 reports that those belonging to an ethnic minority group are 1.8 times more likely to be stopped than those of white ethnicity. It is recognised that individuals of Black ethnicity have a higher chance of being stopped (based on stops per 1,000 population), which is reflected nationally.
We are bound by home office rules to report disproportionality using figures based on per 1,000 population.
This figure is based on the population of Wiltshire from birth to death and so many will not be subject of stop and search.
This also does not take into account searching of non-residents. When we look at the actual numbers of searches by ethnicity you will see that the figures are actually very low and so small fluctuations can have a huge impact on disproportionality and find rates.
Breakdown by ethnicity
|
Arab or other ethnic group |
Asian or Asian British |
Black or Black British |
Mixed |
Ethnic Min. Total |
White |
|
| Resident population | 7,027 | 38,049 | 11,909 | 15,204 | 72,189 | 670,758 |
|
12-24 months to Dec 21 Volume |
3 | 43 | 72 | 23 | 141 | 1,010 |
|
12-24 months to Dec 21 Per 1,000 population |
0.4 | 1.1 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
|
Previous 12 months to Dec 21 Volume |
3 | 65 | 101 | 60 | 229 | 1,205 |
|
Previous 12 months to Dec 21 Per 1,000 population |
0.0 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Year on year change | 0 | 22 | 29 | 37 | 88 | 295 |
| Year on year variance | 0.0% | 51.2% | 40.3% | 160.9% | 62.4% | 19.3% |
| Find rate | 100% | 29.2% | 25.7% | 30% | 187.8% | 30.5% |
| Arrest rate | 66.7% | 26.3% | 23.1% | 38.9% | 34.2% | 35.1% |
Breakdown by ethnicity
CPT |
Arab or other ethnic group |
Asian or Asian British |
Black or Black British |
Mixed |
Not stated |
Ethnic Min. Total |
White |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amesbury | 2 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 68 | ||
| Chippenham | 15 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 110 | ||
| Devizes | 3 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 16 | 77 | |
| Royal Wootton Bassett | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 52 | |
| Salisbury | 1 | 5 | 41 | 6 | 76 | ||
| Swindon | 1 | 58 | 63 | 46 | 212 | 168 | 624 |
| Trowbridge | 2 | 8 | 4 | 45 | 14 | 182 | |
| Warminster | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 57 |
| Age range | % of stop and searches |
| 10-17 | 27.5% |
| 18-24 | 32.6% |
| 25-34 | 18.6% |
| 35-59 | 20.4% |
| 60+ | 0.2% |
| NULL | 0.4% |
Stop and searches by age of subject
Of the 448 Stop and Searches recorded, 58% (260) were to stop a person under the age of 25.
As a breakdown of the age groups stopped:
- 10 to 17 year olds account for 7%
- 18 to 24 year olds, 6%
- 25 to 34 year olds, 6%
- 35 to 59 year olds, 4%
- Over 60 year olds, 2%
- Not Stated, 4%
At present, Wiltshire Police are heavily engaged in proactive operations to tackle the increase in youth violence and County Lines. This is represented in the high proportions of those individuals stopped under the age of 25.
12.3% (52) of the 432 Stop and Searches in this period were conducted between the hours of 11pm and midnight.
Gender |
Percentage of stop searches |
| Male | 84.2% |
| Female | 13.1% |
| Unknown | 2,7% |
Stop searches by gender
When looking at the breakdown of genders, Males feature as the most predominant gender Stop and Searched at 84.2%.
The proportion of Females stopped was 13.1%, with the remaining 2.7% Unknown or not recorded.
Type of search |
Percentage of stop searches |
| Search of person only |
71.2% |
| Search of person and vehicle |
27.1% |
| Search of vehicle only |
0.9% |
| NULL |
0.9% |
By type of search
71.2% of 448 Stop and Searches recorded during this fiscal quarter were recorded as a search of pedestrian only. In 82% of all cases, no clothes were removed from the person and 9.3% involved the removal of outer clothes only.
Type of search |
Percentage of stop searches |
| No clothes removed |
81.8% |
| Outer clothes removed only |
9.3% |
| Full strip |
0.7% |
| NULL |
0.2% |
By clothing removed
The above table identifies that 30 of Stop and Searches(6.7%) cases were a full strip search, 29 (97%) of which resulted in the exposure of intimate body parts. (26 identified as Male & 4 AS Female ).
50% of these Stop and Searches resulted in an object of search being found.