FOI 373/25 Stop and Search

Enquiry Reference:  373- 25                                                             

 

I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request, firstly please accept my apologies for the late response. Below is your request and our response.

 

I’m researching police force use of Section 60 stop and search legislation and, under the Freedom of Information Act, would be grateful if you could provide the disclosure requested.

 

Please note I am not seeking identifiable personal information and am happy for any necessary data to be anonymised or aggregated.

 

If you feel this request breaches the cost and time limits as it stands, please advise me as to how best to refine my questions to achieve the disclosure I hope to receive.

 

I’d like to know:

 

1. The number of section 60 orders requested between January 2019 and March 2025, broken down by financial year

 

2. For each of those section 60 orders requested, please also provide:
3. The reason for the request
4. The decision made (e.g. granted or refused)
5. In the case of refusals, the reason recorded for the refusal
6. How the section 60 order was communicated to the public e. The start and end point (timestamp) of the order f. The location of the order

 

• No information held – A process has now been formulated which will assist in collating all authorities considered and granted for the future to assist with data collection. This will also outline the grounds and authorising officer therefore we are unable to provide accurate data for Q 1 and 2.

 

 

 

 

3. For each stop under a section 60 order:
4. The age, officer-defined ethnicity and gender of the person stopped
5. Whether there was use of force and what kind of force was used
6. Whether armed police were present
7. The outcome associated with each stop made
8. Whether the outcome was related to the object of the search.

 

Volume of searches conducted using Stop Power Section 60	2023/2024	2024/2025
	32	100

 

 

There were 132 stops in total in the requested time period, with 12 of those stops relating to vehicle only searches.

 

1. The age, officer-defined ethnicity and gender of the person stopped

 

Stops of a Vehicle using Section 60 Power

12

 

 

Stop searches using Section 60 Power by Demographics
Ethnicity and Age	Female	Male	Gender Not Recorded
Unknown Ethnicity	2	5	1
15		1
18		1
22		1
23			1
24	1
26		1
30	1
34		1
Asian		6
20		1
26		1
27		2
58		1
Unknown Age		1
White - North European	9	95
13		3
14		1
15		1
16		7
17		4
18	2	5
19		4
20		3
21		2
22		2
23		2
24	1	1
25		1
26		3
27		2
28		4
29		1
30	1	6
31		2
32		2
34		1
35		2
36		2
37		3
38		2
39		1
40		3
41		2
43	1	3
44		3
45		4
46		3
47		1
50		2
52		1
53	1	1
54		1
55	1
Unknown Age	2	4
White - South European		2
17		1
21		1
Grand Total	11	108	1

 

 

 

1. The outcome associated with each stop made

 

Searches using Section 60 Power	Volume
Arrest	8
Drugs warning	1
Fixed penalty notice	1
No further action	117
Police discretionary resolution	2
Postal requisition/postal charge/summons	2
Voluntary attendance	1
Grand Total	132

 

 

1. Whether the outcome was related to the object of the search

 

For this the analyst has provided if an item was found, and this was then related to the search objective.

This was the case on 3 occasions. An item was found on 9 occasions in the time period.  

 

 

4. For each financial year between January 2019 and March 2025:
5. The number of complaints received linked to section 60 stops
6. A breakdown of the outcomes of the complaint (i.e. how many were upheld, how many rejected, etc.)

 

1/4/2019 – 31/3/2020

 

Resolved	2
De recorded /No contact	1

 

 

1/4/2020- 31/3/2021

 

Resolved	20
No contact	10
Service acceptable	3
De recorded	3
Withdrawn	2
No further action	1

1/4/2021- 31/3/2022

 

Service acceptable	5
Resolved	20
Unable to determine if service acceptable	1
De recorded	9

 

 

1/4/2022 – 31/3/2023

 

Resolved	18
De recorded	5
Service acceptable	3
Service not acceptable	1

 

 

1/4/2023 – 31/3/2024

 

Resolved	19
De recorded	9
Service acceptable	10
Service not acceptable	1
Unable to determine	2
No further action	2
Withdrawn	1
Live	2

 

1/4/2024 – 25/3/2025

 

Live	4
No further action	2
Resolved	25
Unable to determine	2
De recorded	3

 

*Please note we do not break down the type of ‘stop search’ in relation to sec 60 stops. 

 

5. Any 'data dictionaries' listing the columns/fields of any databases used to record data on the use of section 60, including complaints, and any associated descriptions of those fields or terminology used

 

• Data is stored on our internal Niche computer system and a new recording system is current being developed.

 

Please note that all statistical data supplied in relation to Freedom of Information requests is a snapshot of data held at the time the request was received by the Freedom of Information office and is subject to constant change/updates.

 

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The Freedom of Information Code of Practice (see below link) states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced. Public authorities are not obliged to accept internal reviews after this date.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice

 

Yours sincerely

Information Rights Decision Maker