Published stop and search

Stop and search statistics

Published stop and search records from data.police.uk, summarised for the selected period and police force. This is a count of published records, not a judgement of whether searches were justified.

September 2016 to August 2026

34147
Stop and search records
7174
Searches with a recorded find
21.0%
Recorded find rate
1
Police forces in view
What this page shows and how these figures are calculated

What this page shows

This page summarises the stop and search records currently loaded into CrimeMapsUK for the selected time period and police-force filter.

Coverage period
September 2016 to August 2026
Months included
74
Police force filter
Devon And Cornwall
Latest loaded month
August 2026

A recorded find is derived from the published stop and search outcome labels held in this dataset. It does not show whether a search was justified, proportionate, or effective. Unless you change the filters, the default view is the latest loaded month.

Read the methodology. Related: How to use the dashboards, FAQ, What is a stop and search record?.

How these figures are calculated

Stop and search records
All loaded stop and search records in the selected time period and police-force filter.
Searches with a recorded find
Records marked by this dataset as having a find based on the published stop and search outcome.
Recorded find rate
The share of loaded stop and search records treated as a recorded find in this dataset. It does not show whether a search was justified.
Police forces in view
The number of police forces represented after the current filters are applied.

Filters

Choose a month range and optional police force. The page defaults to the latest loaded month.

Demographic breakdown

Age group distribution

View data table
Age group Records Searches with a recorded find Recorded find rate
10-17 5764 770 13.4%
18-24 8079 1737 21.5%
25-34 7743 1864 24.1%
over 34 10360 2370 22.9%
Unknown 2161 429 19.9%
under 10 40 4 10.0%

Gender split

View data table
Gender Records Searches with a recorded find Recorded find rate
Unknown 1645 276 16.8%
Male 26794 5934 22.1%
Female 5708 964 16.9%
By police force

Recorded find rate by police force

View data table
Police force Records Searches with a recorded find Recorded find rate
Devon And Cornwall 34147 7174 21.0%
Search powers and legislation

Recorded find rate by search type

View data table
Search type Records Searches with a recorded find Recorded find rate
Person and Vehicle search 5273 1717 32.6%
Vehicle search 1278 244 19.1%
Person search 27596 5213 18.9%

Top legislation used

Chart labels use short legislation names; hover or open the table for the full wording.

View data table
Legislation Records Searches with a recorded find Recorded find rate
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 23) 22725 4528 19.9%
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (section 1) 11251 2619 23.3%
Firearms Act 1968 (section 47) 147 27 18.4%
Unknown 18 0 0.0%
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (section 60) 6 0 0.0%
Legislation outcome tables

Drugs Act 1971 s.23

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 23)

OutcomeCount
A no further action disposal 14520
Arrest 3479
Community resolution 2106
Unknown 1114
Nothing found - no further action 857

PACE 1984 s.1

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (section 1)

OutcomeCount
A no further action disposal 7207
Arrest 2505
Unknown 726
Nothing found - no further action 304
Community resolution 288

Firearms Act 1968 s.47

Firearms Act 1968 (section 47)

OutcomeCount
A no further action disposal 100
Arrest 25
Unknown 12
Community resolution 4
Nothing found - no further action 4

Unknown

OutcomeCount
Nothing found - no further action 7
Offender given drugs possession wa… 4
Unknown 4
Suspect arrested 3

CJPOA 1994 s.60

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (section 60)

OutcomeCount
A no further action disposal 5
Unknown 1
Published outcomes

Outcome distribution

View data table
Published outcome Records
A no further action disposal 21832
Arrest 6009
Community resolution 2398
Unknown 1857
Nothing found - no further action 1172
Suspect arrested 242
Summons / charged by post 228
Offender given drugs possession warning 167
Article found - Detailed outcome unavailable 109
Caution (simple or conditional) 66
Local resolution 21
Suspect summonsed to court 19
Offender cautioned 10
Penalty Notice for Disorder 7
Offender given penalty notice 6
Khat or Cannabis warning 4

Search objects (top 10)

View data table
Search object Records Searches with a recorded find Recorded find rate
Controlled drugs 22698 4515 19.9%
Offensive weapons 5391 1305 24.2%
Stolen goods 2872 713 24.8%
Article for use in theft 1428 347 24.3%
Unknown 1046 174 16.6%
Articles for use in criminal damage 442 66 14.9%
Firearms 270 54 20.0%
Data quality statement: Data sourced from data.police.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcome labels come from the published police data source and may change as records are updated. Find rates are descriptive summaries of the selected records and should not be treated as a direct measure of policing quality.