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.

June 2015 to August 2026

387046

Stop and search records

52688

Searches with a recorded find

13.6%

Recorded find rate

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: June 2015 to August 2026
Months included: 120
Police force filter: Merseyside
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.

From year

From month

To year

To month

Police force

Demographic breakdown

Age group distribution

View data table

Age group	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
10-17	58269	5186	8.9%
18-24	102748	15890	15.5%
25-34	88618	13919	15.7%
over 34	117325	15054	12.8%
Unknown	20022	2636	13.2%
under 10	64	3	4.7%

Gender split

View data table

Gender	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Other	85	9	10.6%
Unknown	20631	2834	13.7%
Male	328589	45404	13.8%
Female	37741	4441	11.8%

By police force

Recorded find rate by police force

View data table

Police force	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Merseyside	387046	52688	13.6%

Search powers and legislation

Recorded find rate by search type

View data table

Search type	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Vehicle search	7273	1857	25.5%
Person and Vehicle search	60239	12084	20.1%
Person search	319534	38747	12.1%

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)	274817	42419	15.4%
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (section 1)	70897	9113	12.9%
Unknown	35218	824	2.3%
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (section 60)	4670	103	2.2%
Firearms Act 1968 (section 47)	749	125	16.7%
Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (s36(2))	457	71	15.5%
Poaching Prevention Act 1862 (section 2)	118	15	12.7%
Aviation Security Act 1982 (section 27(1))	43	5	11.6%
Criminal Justice Act 1988 (section 139B)	36	4	11.1%
Deer Act 1991 (section 12)	27	8	29.6%
Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (section 11)	5	1	20.0%
Conservation of Seals Act 1970 (section 4)	5	0	0.0%
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (section 19)	3	0	0.0%
Crossbows Act 1987 (section 4)	1	0	0.0%

Legislation outcome tables

Drugs Act 1971 s.23

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 23)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	194775
Community resolution	21934
Arrest	21799
Summons / charged by post	10636
Nothing found - no further action	9802

PACE 1984 s.1

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (section 1)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	52437
Arrest	7605
Nothing found - no further action	4776
Unknown	1549
Community resolution	1244

Unknown

Outcome	Count
Unknown	27393
A no further action disposal	6922
Arrest	528
Summons / charged by post	154
Community resolution	147

CJPOA 1994 s.60

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (section 60)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	4102
Nothing found - no further action	244
Arrest	95
Community resolution	95
Summons / charged by post	64

Firearms Act 1968 s.47

Firearms Act 1968 (section 47)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	484
Arrest	112
Nothing found - no further action	76
Unknown	21
Article found - Detailed outcome u…	14

Published outcomes

Outcome distribution

View data table

Published outcome	Records
A no further action disposal	259250
Unknown	32116
Arrest	30196
Community resolution	23479
Nothing found - no further action	14898
Summons / charged by post	12114
Suspect arrested	3514
Khat or Cannabis warning	3327
Article found - Detailed outcome unavailable	2442
Caution (simple or conditional)	2014
Offender given drugs possession warning	1482
Penalty Notice for Disorder	1071
Suspect summonsed to court	528
Offender given penalty notice	519
Offender cautioned	84
Local resolution	12

Search objects (top 10)

View data table

Search object	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Controlled drugs	195829	23782	12.1%
Unknown	136557	22446	16.4%
Offensive weapons	17159	1966	11.5%
Article for use in theft	12463	1385	11.1%
Stolen goods	9339	1722	18.4%
Anything to threaten or harm anyone	4692	503	10.7%
Articles for use in criminal damage	4234	345	8.1%
Evidence of offences under the Act	4182	325	7.8%
Fireworks	1151	28	2.4%
Firearms	917	109	11.9%

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.