Stop Search data Q4 2022-23

Stop and searches by CPT location

The above table shows the volume of Stop and Searches recorded across Wiltshire's police force area. The bar chart shows that Swindon CPT has recorded the largest proportion of Stop and Searches, followed by Devizes CPT, Trowbridge CPT, and Chippenham 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, 65.2% were related to controlled drugs.in 7.8% 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 in March 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, 62.9% of Stop Searches were related to controlled drugs. In 32.4% of cases, the object searched for was found and 41.2% 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.

The increase seen in Devizes CPT is a direct result of proactive policing due to a clear rise in youth related crime within Devizes. This included robberies and information from the public around knives/weapons being carried and drug supply. We have responded with numerous proactive operations and the community have been really supportive of our approach locally.

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.

64.2% 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 399 Stop and Searches recorded, 70.9% resulted in no object being found and 26.8% resulted in an object found.

21.6% related to the intended object that was being searched for, meaning that 5.2% of searches found an object not of the original search.

There are 9 (3.3%) Stop and Search reports where no outcome has been logged – these are data quality errors and are being investigated.

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.

It should be noted that one Stop and Search can have multiple outcomes.

Of the 399 Stop and Searches recorded, 63.9% ended with no further action to be taken. 29.8% resulted in police action, 25.2% 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 – 0.1 in every 1,000
• Black Ethnicity Group – 0.8 in every 1,000
• Arab or ‘other’ Ethnicity Group – 0.1 in every 1,000
• Mixed Ethnicity Group – 1.2 in every 1,000
• White Ethnicity Group – 0.4 in every 1,000

Year on year stop search - proportionality v white ethnicity

The 12 months to March 23 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

Breakdown by ethnicity

Stop and searches by age of subject

Of the 399 Stop and Searches recorded, 59.6% (238) 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 30.1%
• 18 to 24 year olds, 29.6%
• 25 to 34 year olds, 16.5%
• 35 to 59 year olds, 16.8%
• Over 60 year olds, 1%
• Not Stated, 0.4%.

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.

7.3% (29) of the 399 Stop and Searches in this period were conducted between the hours of 11pm and midnight.

Stop searches by gender

When looking at the breakdown of genders, Males feature as the most predominant gender Stop and Searched at 78.7%.

The proportion of  Females  stopped was 18.3%, with the remaining 3.1% Unknown or not recorded.

By type of search

70.2% of 399 Stop and Searches recorded during this fiscal quarter were recorded as a search of pedestrian only. In 55.1% of all cases, no clothes were removed from the person and 38.1% involved the removal of outer clothes only.

By clothing removed

The above table identifies that 11 of Stop and Searches(2.8%) cases were a full strip search, 11 (100%) of which resulted in the exposure of intimate body parts.

(8 identified as Male & 3 AS Female). 45.5% of these Stop and Searches resulted in an object of search being found.