PUBLIC ENCOUNTERS MEETING: 16/09/2016

STOP SEARCH REPORTS: 01st Sept 2015 to 31st Aug 2016 (i.e. 366 calendar days)

1.  SUMMARY

·  Between Sep 2015 and Aug 2016, there were 4732 “Person”, “Person and Vehicle” or “Vehicle Only” Stop Search reports added to NICHE. The monthly trend is descending.

·  The average daily Stop Search rate for this period was 12.9 Stop Search records/day. The daily Stop Search rates for July and August were lower than the preceding months (i.e. 8.1 and 3.9 Stop Search records/day respectively) … see page 3 below.

·  Despite the reduction in the daily Stop Search rate, the percentage of Stop Searches which have resulted in Police action being taken has increased … see page 7 below.

·  The largest numbers of Stop Searches occurred in Warrington (i.e. 953; 20%), and Macclesfield (i.e. 743; 16%).

·  The majority of Stop Searches occurred between 21:00 and 03:00 (i.e. 2028; 43%)

·  There is no specific day of the week when more Stop Searches occurred, although Mondays and Thursdays seem to the quieter days.

·  The majority of the Stop Searches recorded during this period were drug related (i.e. 3356; 71%) …. where either the “Object of Search” was drugs or the “Legislation Used” was drugs, or both).

·  In most cases (i.e. 3172; 67%) nothing was found and no further action was taken. Police action was taken in 32% of cases (i.e. 1490)

·  The majority of the individuals Stop Searched were male (i.e. 4276; 91%). Of these, 1640 (i.e. 38%) were aged between 18 and 24.

·  The highest Stop Search rate per 1000 population was for individuals whose Self Defined Ethnicity was Black or Black British (i.e. 16.54 Stop Searches per 1000 pop). This is approximately 6 times the equivalent rate for individuals defined as White. (i.e. 2.77 Stop Searches per 1000 Pop). Similar (but larger) discrepancies also exist for the Officer Defined Ethnicity.

·  Over recent months, there have been significant improvements in the recording of both the Self defined Ethnicity, and the Officer Defined Ethnicity.

·  Although there is no current reporting requirement, the HO have asked if it would be possible to differentiate between those individuals who wouldn’t provide a Self Defined Ethnicity, and those where we failed to collect, or record, the Self Defined Ethnicity. At present, these are both recorded as “NS Not stated/Not recorded”

ATTACHMENT 1: STOP SEARCH NUMBERS and RATES: Sep 2015 to Aug 2016

a) STOP/SEARCH NUMBERS

The number of Stop Search Reports recorded each month was as follows.

Note: the publication of the HO counting rules in Feb 2016 indicated that we were incorrectly recording some Vehicle Searches. These are not included in the figures shown above.

b) AVERAGE STOP SEARCH RATE (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016) … 366 Calendar Days

The average Stop Search rate for this period was 12.9 Stop Searches records per day.

c) MONTHLY STOP SEARCH RATES (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016)

During this period, the daily Stop Search rates have reduced.

Despite the reduction in the daily Stop Search rate, the percentage of Stop Searches which have resulted in Police action being taken has increased … see page 7 below

d) HISTORIC STOP SEARCH RATES:

The Stop Search rates for this, and previous calendar years were as follows:


ATTACHMENT 2: STOP SEARCH LOCATION, TIME OF DAY and DAY OF WEEK

a) LOCATION OF STOP SEARCHES (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016)

The Stop Search locations are recorded as free text within NICHE. The locations derived from these are as follows. The largest numbers of Stop Searches occurred in Warrington (i.e. 953; 20%), and Macclesfield (i.e. 743; 16%).

b) TIME OF DAY (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016)

The majority of Stop Searches occurred between 21:00 and 03:00 (i.e. 2028; 43%)

c) DAY OF WEEK (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016)

There is no specific day of the week when more Stop Searches occur.


ATTACHMENT 3: OBJECT OF SEARCH, LEGISLATION, OUTCOMES and POSITIVE OUTCOMES

a) OBJECT OF SEARCH & LEGISLATION USED (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016)

The following table shows the Object of the Search, and the Legislation used in each case.

The majority of the Stop Searches recorded during this period were drug related (i.e. 3356; 71%) …. where either the “Object of Search” was drugs or the “Legislation Used” was drugs).

b) OUTCOMES (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016)

The general and detailed outcomes occurring during this period are as follows. In most cases (i.e. 3172; 67%) nothing was found and no further action was taken. Police action was taken in 32% of cases (i.e. 1490)

c) POSITIVE OUTCOMES (Sept 2015 to Aug 2016)

Despite the reduction in the daily Stop Search rate, the percentage of Stop Searches which have resulted in Police action being taken has increased:

ATTACHMENT 4: PERSON ATTRIBUTES

a) AGE RANGE AND GENDER (Person, and Person & Vehicle Only): Sept15 to Aug16

The Age Ranges and Gender of the individuals Stop Searched was as follows. The majority of the individuals Stop Searched were male (i.e. 4276; 91%). Of these, 1640 (i.e. 38%) were aged between 18 and 24.

b) SELF DEFINED ETHNICITY (“Person”, and “Person & Vehicle” Only) ... Where known

Number of Stop Searches per 1000 population

The number of Stop Searches recorded per Self Defined Ethnic Group is shown below. The highest Stop Search rate per 1000 population was for individuals whose Self Defined Ethnic Group was Black or Black British (i.e. 16.54 Stop Searches/1000 pop). This is approximately 6 times the equivalent rate for individuals defined as White.

Recent increases in the proportion being recorded as “Not Stated/Not Recorded”

During March, April and May 2016 there was a significant increase in the proportion of Stop Searches being recorded where the Self Defined Ethnicity was recorded as Not stated/Not recorded. The rates for these three months were 61%, 67% and 57% respectively, compared to the previous average of 34%. The situation has now been rectified and the average has now reduced to 17%.

c) OFFICER DEFINED ETHNICITY (“Person”, and “Person & Vehicle Records” Only)

Number of Stop Searches per 1000 population

The total number of Stop Searches recorded per Officer Defined Ethnic Group is show below. The highest Stop Search rate per 1000 population was for individuals whose Officer Defined Ethnicity was Black (i.e. 37.99 Stop Searches per 1000 pop). This is approximately 10 times the equivalent rate for individuals defined as White.

b) Recent decreases in the proportion being recorded as “not recorded/unknown”

Since March 2016 there has been a significant decrease in the proportion of Stop Searches being recorded where the Officer Defined Ethnicity was Not recorded/Unknown. The average rate since Mar 2016 was approximately 6%, compared to the previous average of 23%.

Page 1