Police use tactic 370,454 times in year to March – up from 279,728 in previous 12 months

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

The number of stop and searches carried out by police officers in England and Wales has increased by 32% in a year, official figures have shown.

In the 12 months to March 2019 there were 370,454 stop and searches conducted by forces under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace), up from 279,728 in the previous 12 months.

The rise follows a downward trend in the use of the power between 2010 and 2018, although only 15%, or 58,251, of people who were stopped and searched were arrested.

White people made up the largest ethnicity group searched under police powers, at 187,761, followed by black people, who were stopped 70,648 times. However, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people were still over four times more likely to be stopped than white people.

For those who identified as black or black British, the disparity was even greater – they were 9.7 times more likely to be stopped and searched by an officer than a white person.

After the Home Office rolled back restrictions to the controversial tactic in August as part of an attempt to curb knife crime, an equality impact assessment warned that more people from BAME backgrounds were likely to be targeted despite not having committed crimes.

The government report also warned that relaxed conditions could create “broader issues” among the public in terms of their trust in the police.

The statistics, published by the Home Office, also revealed that the number of people being detained under the Mental Health Act rose by 12% in the same year – a total of 33,238 compared with 29,662 the year before.

Under the act, an officer can remove someone suffering from mental ill health from a public place to a place of safety if in their judgment the person requires immediate care or control in the interests of their safety or others.

Although the most common reason for carrying out a Pace stop and search was on suspicion of drug possession – accounting for 61% of all instances – the number of people searched on suspicion of carrying knives or other weapons also rose to 59,272.

A further 13,175 stop and searches were carried out under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act in anticipation of violence – more than five times the number of searches made under this power the year before.

In March this year Sajid Javid, the then home secretary, enhanced section 60 powers, giving police officers more scope to stop and search people without reasonable suspicion.

The move came after official statistics showed fatal stabbings were at their highest level since records began.

Then in August, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, and the current home secretary, Priti Patel, loosened restrictions on the use of the tactic even further.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Johnson said the time had arrived to “come down hard on crime”, while Patel told the Sun on Sunday she would ensure police had “the resources and the powers they need” to protect people.

Of the overall 383,629 stop and searches carried out by forces in England and Wales, 73% (279,601) resulted in no further action.