National statistics

Update to stop and search and arrests statistics using 2021 Census estimates

Published 2 March 2023

Applies to England and Wales

Frequency of release: Ad hoc release

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Jodie Hargreaves

Press enquiries: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: policingstatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

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1. Introduction

1.1 Police Powers and Procedures statistics release

This release is a follow-up to the ‘Police powers and procedures: Stop and search and arrests, England and Wales, year ending March 2022’ statistical bulletin published on 27 October 2022.

On 29 November 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the Census 2021 population estimates broken down by ethnicity, and this release gives an update on the impact of these new estimates on stop and search and arrest rates.

While the original release of ‘Police powers and procedures: Stop and search and arrests, England and Wales, year ending March 2022’ covers information such as long-term trends in the volume of stop and search and arrests and the reasons why those powers were used, this bulletin focuses on the ethnicity of persons stopped and searched and arrested, including updated rates of stop and search and arrest of people within each ethnic group, using the updated Census 2021 population estimates.

1.2 2021 Census

On 29 November 2022, the Office for National Statistics published data on the ethnic groups of usual residents in England and Wales, Census 2021. Information on how that data was collected, as well as its strengths and limitations, can be found in that statistical bulletin.

For the purposes of this publication, ethnicity data from the 2021 Census has been aggregated from Local Authority to Police Force Area (PFA) level, to produce updated estimates for the rates at which people of different ethnicities were stopped and searched in each PFA within England and Wales.

1.3 Key findings

This release presents updated stop and search and arrests analysis, looking at the effect of using the newly released 2021 Census population estimates in place of 2011 Census population estimates on stop and search and arrests disparity rates, in the year ending March 2022.

Updated analysis using the 2021 Census population found that disparity rates of all ethnic minority groups compared to people from a white ethnic background were lower than previously calculated using 2011 population figures. This is because the proportion of ethnic minorities in the population has increased, and we use this number divided by the number of stop and searches/arrests to calculate rates.

For stop and searches in the year ending March 2022, the disparity rate for the black ethnic group reduces from 6.2 to 4.8. The disparity rate for people from an Asian ethnic group reduces from 2.0 to 1.6. The disparity rate for people with a mixed ethnicity background reduces from 2.3 to 1.7 and the disparity rate for people from any other ethnic background reduces from 2.7 to 1.2.

For arrests made in the year ending March 2022, the disparity rate for the black ethnic group reduces from 3.0 to 2.4, and the disparity for the mixed ethnic group falls from 1.8 to 1.3. For the first time, when using 2021 Census estimates, it was found that people from Asian and other ethnic backgrounds were arrested at a lower rate than people from white ethnic backgrounds.

2. How has the ethnic composition of the population of England and Wales changed between 2011 and 2021?

Between 2011 and 2021, the population of England and Wales has increased by 6%, from approximately 56.1 million to 59.6 million (Table 2.1). However, the relative population increases within each ethnic group were not equal over that period. Whereas the white population increased by only 1% during that 10-year period, the black population increased by 29%, Asian population increased by 31%, mixed-ethnicity population increased by 40% and people who defined as any other ethnicity increased by 123%.

Table 2.1: Change in population of each ethnic group between 2011 and 2021 Censuses, England and Wales

	Volume	Volume		Proportion of total population	Proportion of total population
Ethnicity	2011	2021	Percentage change	2011	2021
White	48,209,395	48,699,231	+1%	86%	82%
Black	1,864,890	2,409,283	+29%	3%	4%
Asian	4,213,531	5,515,455	+31%	8%	9%
Mixed	1,224,400	1,717,977	+40%	2%	3%
Other	563,696	1,255,632	+123%	1%	2%
Total	56,075,912	59,597,578	+6%	100%	100%

Source: 2011 and 2021 Census, Office for National Statistics

The next sections explore how these population changes affect previously published estimates of disparity figures for stop and searches and arrests in England and Wales.

3. How does the change in population affect published stop and search disparity figures?

3.1 Introduction

Relative rates are calculated by taking the stop and search rate for one ethnic group and dividing it by the rate for the white group. A relative rate of one indicates that individuals from the minority ethnic group (excluding white minorities) are stopped at the same overall rate as white individuals. If the relative rate is less than one, it indicates that individuals from the minority ethnic group are stopped at an overall rate less than white individuals, and if greater than one, they are stopped at a greater overall rate. For example, a relative rate of 2 would mean that a group is stopped twice as much as the white group.

When making comparisons between forces on disparity rates, the following should be borne in mind:

• both the relatively low number of stop and searches and the relatively small size of the resident population of ethnic minorities in some force areas can produce large differences in rates per 1,000 population which are the result of a very small difference in the absolute numbers

• police resourcing and priorities – the level of stop and search in a police force area will be influenced by operational priorities and decisions

• transient populations – the Race Disparity Unit highlighted the impact of population changes on stop and search rates, the stop and search rates are based on resident population estimates at a specific time and do not take into account individuals temporarily visiting an area, for example tourists and students

• variations within PFAs – as section 2.11 of the Police Powers and Procedures bulletin showed, some force areas have many smaller areas (LSOAs) that have little to no stop and search activity, with a small proportion of areas accounting for the majority of stop and search

Lastly, it is important to note that the data collected on stop and search is based on the number of stop and searches carried out rather than the number of people stopped and searched. This means that the same person may be stopped and searched multiple times and they would be counted more than once in the data. This should be borne in mind when interpreting the data presented on disparity rates.

Information on person identification is also collected from police forces on a voluntary basis. A person ID should relate to a unique individual. The purpose of collecting these data is to understand the extent to which people are repeatedly stopped and searched. However, analysis of these data has shown that for a large proportion of records, person_ID is either missing or has not been recorded correctly (for example it is clear from demographic information that the same person_ID has been used for different individuals). There are operational difficulties with recording these data as when an individual is stopped and searched they are not required to provide personal information.

3.2 For England and Wales overall, using the 2021 Census reduces stop and search disparity in the year ending March 2022, for each ethnic group

As outlined in section 2, the number of people in the population who identify as black (up 29%), Asian (up 31%), mixed (up 40%) or any other ethnic minority (up 123%) in England and Wales have increased by a relatively higher amount than white people (up 1%) between the 2011 Census and 2021 Census. This means that previously published estimates of stop and search disparity in the year ending March 2022, based on the 2011 Census, overstated the disparity values since they used now out-of-date population estimates. Table 3.1 shows a comparison of the stop and search disparity values as calculated using the 2011 Census estimates and the 2021 Census estimates. The largest reduction is for the ‘other’ ethnic group, reflecting the fact that this group had the largest percentage population increase in the ten years between the 2011 and 2021 Census.

Table 3.1: Comparison of the rate at which people were searched in the years ending March 2021 and 2022, relative to individuals who self-define their ethnicity as white, based on both the 2011 and the 2021 Census

Ethnic group	2011 Census	2021 Census
	Year ending March 2021, England and Wales
Black	7.1	5.5
Asian	2.4	1.8
Mixed	2.3	1.7
Other	2.7	1.2
	Year ending March 2022, England and Wales
Black	6.2	4.8
Asian	2.0	1.6
Mixed	2.3	1.7
Other	2.7	1.2

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2021 Census

Notes:

1. Includes searches under section 1 PACE and associated legislation and section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

3.3 What is the long-term trend in stop and search disparity?

The following analysis considers the self-defined ethnicity of those searched relative to the population as a whole, by calculating search rates for each ethnic group. Data are presented in terms of the rate that ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) were searched compared with white people.

In the time series presented below, population data from the 2021 Census is used to calculate the disparity rates in the years ending March 2021 and March 2022 only. The 2011 Census is used to calculate disparity rates for all years prior to the year ending March 2021. Additionally, figures presented below exclude Greater Manchester Police, who were unable to provide complete data in the year ending March 2020.

In the year ending March 2022, based on the traditional measure of using self-defined ethnicity and the ONS 2021 Census population estimates to calculate rates, people identifying as black or black British were searched at a rate 4.9 times that of those from a white ethnic group across England and Wales. This is a small decrease from the year ending March 2021, in which black or black British people were searched at a rate 5.6 that of white people.

In the year ending March 2022, people identifying as Asian or Asian British were searched at a rate 1.6 that of those from a white ethnic group, down slightly from 1.9 times in the year ending March 2021. Similarly, to people of a black or black British background, this differential has widened since the year ending March 2015, when the rate was 1.3 times for Asian or Asian British people compared with white people. However, the differential has reduced since the peak in the year ending March 2019.

A similar pattern has also occurred for those from a mixed ethnic background or from other ethnic groups. In the latest year, people identifying as mixed were searched at a rate 1.7 times that of white people, and people from other ethnic groups 1.2 times that of white people (Table 3.2).

Table 3.2: Comparison of the rate at which people were searched relative to individuals who self-define their ethnicity as white, England and Wales (excluding Greater Manchester Police), year ending March 2011 to year ending March 2022

Year	Black (or Black British)	Asian (or Asian British)	Other Ethnic Group	Mixed
2010/11	6.7	2.0	1.6	1.8
2011/12	6.1	1.9	1.5	1.8
2012/13	4.5	1.6	1.3	1.6
2013/14	4.2	1.4	1.3	1.5
2014/15	4.4	1.3	1.4	1.6
2015/16	6.5	1.8	1.8	2.1
2016/17	8.4	2.0	2.0	2.4
2017/18	9.5	2.3	2.4	2.8
2018/19	9.7	2.6	2.7	2.7
2019/20	8.8	2.5	2.9	2.6
*	*	*	*	*
2020/21	5.6	1.9	1.3	1.7
2021/22	4.9	1.6	1.2	1.7

Source: Stop and Search table SS_01, Home Office

Notes:

1. Includes searches under section 1 PACE and associated legislation and section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

2. Population breakdowns used to calculate the disparity figures are based on the 2011 Census for all years up to the year ending March 2020, and the 2021 Census for the latest two years. Therefore, caution should be taken when comparing between these periods.

3. Greater Manchester Police are excluded as they were unable to provide complete data in the year ending March 2020.

Table 3.3 shows the same information as table 3.2, but solely for the latest two years, and including Greater Manchester Police.

Table 3.3: Comparison of the rate at which people were searched relative to individuals who self-define their ethnicity as white, England and Wales, year ending March 2021 to year ending March 2022

Year	Black (or Black British)	Asian (or Asian British)	Other Ethnic Group	Mixed
2020/21	5.5	1.8	1.2	1.7
2021/22	4.8	1.6	1.2	1.7

Notes:

1.Includes searches under section 1 PACE and associated legislation and section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

2.Population breakdowns used to calculate the disparity figures are based on the 2021 Census.

3.Includes Greater Manchester Police.

3.4 Using 2021 Census data reduces disparities for all police forces, but the size of the reduction varies

This section expands on section 3.1, by examining how using the 2021 Census data in place of 2011 changes the stop and search disparity values. All figures are based on the self-defined ethnicity of persons stop and searched in the year ending March 2022.

Black ethnic group

Figure 3.1 shows how the disparity rate of people from a black or black British background stopped and search changes for each Police Force Area, when calculating the rate using either the 2011 or 2021 Census.

Figure 3.1: Change in disparity rate of black people stopped and searched in the year ending March 2022 when using the 2011 or 2021 Census, for each Police Force Area in England and Wales

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2011 and 2021 Census, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Points on the chart show the disparity between black people and white people.

2. Excludes British Transport Police and City of London Police.

For Dorset Police, the disparity rate for black people stopped and searched reduces from 18.6 to 11.5 when using the 2021 Census figures, however, they remain the force with the highest disparity. Areas such as West Mercia and Cumbria also show a large reduction in their disparity, from 13.2 to 6.2 and 12.6 to 6.0, respectively. The halving of these disparity values reflects the fact that the black population in these areas has more than doubled between 2011 and 2021, whereas the white population has remained largely unchanged. Merseyside Police have the lowest disparity value when either using the 2011 Census (1.7) or 2021 Census (1.1).

Figure 3.2 plots these same relative rates against the rates per 1,000 population; the placement of the dots shows that the relationship is not linear, with those forces with the highest stop and search rates for people from a black background not necessarily showing the highest disparity rates. For example, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and Merseyside had the highest rates at 41 and 33 stops per 1,000 population but as shown in Fig 3.1 had some of the lowest disparity rates. The rates for the MPS and Merseyside are lower than when calculated using the 2011 Census estimates (at 44 and 50 stops per 1,000 population respectively). This effect was seen across all forces and for England and Wales the rate reduced from 35 to 27 using updated Census estimates.

When this analysis was originally published in November 2022 using 2011 estimates, Cumbria had the highest overall rate (along with Merseyside) at 50 stop and searches per 1,000 population, but has reduced to 24 stops per 1,000 population, ranking it 5th in terms of search rates. Derbyshire remained the PFA with the lowest stop and search rate at 4 per 1,000 population (down from 6 per 1,000 using 2011 estimates).

When making comparisons between forces both in terms of the rates per 1,000 population and the relative rates compared to the white group, it is important to bear in mind the volumes of stop and searches and the composition of a force. For example, Dorset carried out relatively low numbers of stop and searches of people from a black background in the year ending March 2022 (134 – see Table A1 for details for all forces) but had one of the highest stop and search rates. This may be in part explained by their residential population which has a larger proportion of people from a white background compared with other forces (see Table A2 for details for all forces).

Figure 3.2: Overall stop and search rates and relative rates for black individuals, by Police Force Area, England and Wales, year ending March 2022

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2021 Census

Notes:

1. City of London and British Transport Police are not shown, but they have been included in the England and Wales total.

2. Rates of stop and search are calculated using Census 2021 estimates.

Asian ethnic group

Figure 3.3 shows how the disparity rate of people from an Asian or Asian British background stopped and search changes for each Police Force Area, when calculating the rate using either the 2011 or 2021 Census.

Figure 3.3: Change in disparity rate of Asian or Asian British people stopped and searched in the year ending March 2022 when using the 2011 or 2021 Census, for each Police Force Area in England and Wales

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2011 and 2021 Census, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Points on the chart show the disparity between people from an Asian or Asian British background and white people.

2. Excludes British Transport Police and City of London Police.

When the disparity rates for people from an Asian or Asian British background were initially calculated using the 2011 Census, only five police forces had a value less than one (Merseyside, Cheshire, Avon and Somerset, North Wales and Norfolk), which means that Asian or Asian British people are less likely to be stopped and searched than white people in those areas. When updating the calculation to use population data from the 2021 Census, 21 police forces have a disparity value for Asian or Asian British people of less than one.

Figure 3.4 shows the relationship between the stop and search rate for people from an Asian or Asian British background for each PFA against its relative rate. Using 2021 Census estimates reduced the stop and search rate from 12 to 9 for England and Wales and all individual forces, although the extent to the decrease varied between forces.

Merseyside saw one of the greatest decreases from 13 to 9 searches per 1,000 population, and had the lowest relative rate (0.3) as shown in Figure 3.3. The white population in Merseyside had a high stop and search rate (29 stop and searches per 1,000 people), explaining the lower than 1 relative rate.

The MPS saw a small change in its stop and search rate using 2021 Census estimates, from 17 to 14 stops per 1,000 Asian people, keeping it the force with the highest search rate of people from an Asian background, although it is still at the lower end in terms of its relative rate (1.0).

Wiltshire had one of the lowest rates, 1.3 search per 1,000 population (a reduction from 2.6 searches per 1,000 population using 2011 Census estimates) and also saw a fall in its disparity rate (from 1.4 to 0.8).

Although Derbyshire had one of the highest relative rates (2.8), its stop and search rate was relatively low at 3.0 stops per 1,000 population.

Figure 3.4: Overall stop and search rates and relative rates for Asian or Asian British, by Police Force Area, England and Wales, year ending March 2022

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2021 Census

Notes:

1. City of London and British Transport Police are not shown, but they have been included in the England and Wales total.

2. Rates of stop and search are calculated using Census 2021 estimates.

Mixed ethnic group

Figure 3.5 shows how the disparity rate for people stopped and search from a mixed ethnic background changes for each Police Force Area, when calculating the rate using either the 2011 or 2021 Census.

Figure 3.5: Change in disparity rate of people from a mixed ethnic background stopped and searched in the year ending March 2022 when using the 2011 or 2021 Census, for each Police Force Area in England and Wales

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2011 and 2021 Census, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Points on the chart show the disparity between people with a mixed ethnic background and white people.

2. Excludes British Transport Police and City of London Police.

When the disparity rates for people from a mixed ethnic background were initially calculated using the 2011 Census, no police forces had a value less than one. When updating the calculation to use population data from the 2021 Census, 4 police forces have a mixed ethnicity disparity value of less than one (Merseyside, North Wales, Durham and Northumbria). Several police forces also show a reduction in their disparity value from values above 1.5 to close to one, when using the 2021 Census in place of 2011 estimates.

Using 2021 Census estimates led to a reduction across all forces for rates of stop and search of people from a mixed ethnic background. Most forces have a rate of 11 stop and searches per 1,000 population and below, however several forces have much higher rates such as Merseyside and West Midlands with 20 and 16 stop and searches per 1,000 population (although these are still lower than previous estimates, 29 and 20 respectively). West Midlands also has the second highest disparity rate, with people from a mixed ethnic background searched at a rate 3 times higher than people belonging to a white background in the PFA. There were several forces with low stop and search rates as well as low disparity rates including Northumbria, Durham and Devon and Cornwall.

Figure 3.6: Overall stop and search rates and relative rates for individuals from a mixed ethnic background, by Police Force Area, England and Wales, year ending March 2022

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2021 Census

Notes:

1. City of London and British Transport Police are not shown, but they have been included in the England and Wales total.

2. Rates of stop and search are calculated using Census 2021 estimates.

Other ethnic group

Figure 3.7 shows how the disparity rate of people from any other ethnicity stopped and search changes for each Police Force Area, when calculating the rate using either the 2011 or 2021 Census.

Figure 3.7: Change in disparity rate of people of any other ethnicity stopped and searched in the year ending March 2022 when using the 2011 or 2021 Census, for each Police Force Area in England and Wales

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2011 and 2021 Census, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Points on the chart show the disparity between people with any other ethnic background and white people.

2. Excludes British Transport Police and City of London Police.

3. Dyfed-Powys did not carry out any stop and searches of people from any other ethnic group in the year ending March 2022.

The other ethnic group population had the largest percentage increase in England and Wales between 2011 and 2021 (up 123%). Thirty-seven police forces saw a larger than 100% increase in their other ethnicity population between 2011 and 2021, and 10 above 200%.

These large percentage increases are reflected in the large reductions in disparity shown in figure 3.7. For example, Cumbria’s population of people of other ethnicity increased by 279% between 2011 and 2021. When using their 2021 population estimate for people of other ethnicities in place of the 2011 estimate, their disparity value for the year ending March 2022 decreases from 9.4 to 2.5.

Figure 3.8 shows that forces with higher relative rates for people from all other ethnic backgrounds tend to have higher stop and search rates. For example, Suffolk, Cumbria and Kent all have relative rates of 2.0 and higher and also have stop and search rates of 9.9 and higher. Although Merseyside still has the highest rate at 22 stops per 1,000 population, which is much higher than all other forces, this is still a reduction on the rate when using 2011 estimates (47 stops per 1,000 population). Cleveland has the second highest rate of stop and search at 13 stop and searches per 1,000 population, however its volume of searches is relatively low (79) when compared with Merseyside (471).

Figure 3.8: Overall stop and search rates and relative rates for people from any other ethnic groups, by Police Force Area, England and Wales, year ending March 2022

Source: Stop and search table SS_16, Home Office and 2021 Census

Notes:

1. City of London and British Transport Police are not shown, but they have been included in the England and Wales total.

2. Rates of stop and search are calculated using Census 2021 estimates.

For every police force, the size of the disparity for black, Asian, mixed or other ethnicity people stopped and searched compared with white people reduces when using the 2021 Census in place of the 2011 Census. This reflects that fact that in each Police Force Area in England and Wales, the population of people from those ethnic groups has had a larger percentage increase than the population of white people.

3.5 Officer-defined ethnicity of persons stopped and searched in the year ending March 2022

Whereas sections 3.2 to 3.4 are based solely on the self-defined ethnicity of persons stopped and searched, this section uses a combined measure in which if the self-defined ethnicity of the person searched is not stated, officer-observed ethnicity is used instead. This reduces the proportion of stops with unknown ethnicity from 20% to 1%.

Looking at the data in this way increases the disparity rates for people from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities), especially for black people. This suggests that self-defined ethnicity is more likely to be ‘not stated’ or missing when the person searched was from an ethnic minority (excluding white minorities) background.

Using officer-observed ethnicity in place of self-defined ethnicity (when the latter is ‘not stated’), and based on 2021 Census estimates, the disparity for ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) in the year ending March 2022 was 2.7 (compared with 2.3 using the measure based solely on self-defined ethnicity data).

There was a relatively larger increase when looking at the differential for black people, who had a disparity of 6.2 using this methodology (compared with 4.8 using the measure solely using self-defined ethnicity data), and a relatively smaller increase in the differential for Asian people, who had a disparity of 1.8 using this methodology (compared with 1.6 using the measure solely using self-defined ethnicity data).

These numbers are also reduced from those that were published in October 2022, when they were calculated using the 2011 Census population estimates. Table 3.4 shows how these figures change when using the 2021 Census.

Table 3.4: Comparison of the rate at which people were searched in the year ending March 2022, relative to white individuals, when using either the 2011 or 2021 Census, England and Wales

Ethnic group	2011 Census	2021 Census
Black	8.0	6.2
Asian	2.3	1.8
Mixed or other	2.7	1.6

Source: Stop and search table SS_02, Home Office and stop and search table SS_19, Home Office

Notes:

1. Figures in the table show the disparity between the ethnic group shown and the white ethnic group.

2. Ethnicity calculations include officer-defined ethnicity for records where self-defined ethnicity was not stated.

3. The ‘mixed or other’ group includes people that either self-defined their ethnicity as mixed or other, or the officer-defined their ethnicity as ‘other’.

3.6 Stop and search disparity varies greatly, depending on the reason why a search was conducted

The following analysis uses a combination of self-defined ethnicity and officer-observed ethnicity.

There is some variation in the disparity rates depending on the reason why searches were conducted. For offensive weapon searches and searches under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, black people were searched at a rate 9.8 and 13.3 times higher than white people (compared with a disparity of 6.2 for all stop and searches). However, searches of black people for articles to commit criminal damage had a rate 1.6 times higher than white people (Table 3.5).

Table 3.5: Stop and search disparity, compared with the white ethnic group, by reason for search, year ending March 2022, England and Wales

Reason for search	Black (or Black British)	Asian (or Asian British)	Other Ethnic Group or Mixed
Stolen property	5.8	1.1	1.8
Drugs	6.0	2.1	1.6
Firearms	6.9	2.6	1.9
Offensive weapons	9.8	1.7	2.0
Going equipped	2.6	0.9	1.1
Criminal damage	1.6	0.5	0.8
Other	4.5	1.5	1.6
s.60 CJPOA	13.3	3.8	3.4
All stop and search	6.2	1.8	1.6

Source: Stop and Search table SS_03, Home Office

Notes:

1. Figures in the table show the disparity between the ethnic group shown and the white ethnic group.

These disparity figures are all lower than the estimates that were calculated previously from 2011 Census data. The largest reduction was for black (or black British) people searched under s.60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, which reduced from 17.1 to 13.3 when using the 2021 Census in place of the 2011 Census.

4. How does the change in population effect published arrest disparity figures?

4.1 Introduction

Data presented here are on the police power of arrest. In line with police recorded crime statistics, the arrest collection is designed to cover only arrests for notifiable offences^{[footnote 1]} carried out by police in England and Wales. Further, in this collection, an arrest is counted for each occasion a person is arrested, provided that the arrest is for an offence which is not related to an offence for which the person has already been subject to arrest during the same year. If the arrest is connected, or if a person has been arrested for one or more notifiable offences at the same time, only one arrest is counted and the offence with the highest maximum penalty should be recorded. Thus, it does not provide a measure of all arrests made by the police.

Data are provided to the Home Office by the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales and are presented on a financial-year basis. Lancashire Constabulary were not able to provide complete data in the years ending March 2018 and March 2019. Therefore, to ensure comparability with previous years, Lancashire Constabulary have been excluded from time-series analyses in the chapter and accompanying data tables that include data for the year ending March 2019 and prior years. In the latest year Lancashire contributed around 2% of the total number of arrests in England and Wales.

The Home Office does not receive data on arrests from the British Transport Police (BTP).

Where a person has been arrested for one or more notifiable offence on the same occasion, forces are asked to record the arrest against the offence with the highest maximum penalty (the primary arrest). However, Devon and Cornwall Police and North Wales Police are unable to separately identify the primary arrest in a series of reasons for arrests, and Kent Police have only been able to identify primary arrests since November 2018. Due to this, where someone had been arrested for multiple offences this has been counted as multiple arrests, therefore these forces’ data are not directly comparable with other forces. These forces have minimal effect on national totals and have therefore been included in the England and Wales total.

4.2 The number of arrests in the year ending March 2022 was slightly below the year preceding the pandemic

In the year ending March 2022 there were 663,036 arrests carried out by territorial police forces in England and Wales. This was an increase of 3% from the 645,225 arrests in the year ending March 2021, but down 2% from the year preceding the pandemic (ending March 2020).

4.3 Based on analysis using the 2021 Census population, people from an Asian or other ethnic group were arrested at a lower rate than white people

As explained in the Introduction to this publication, following the initial publication of ‘Police Powers and Procedures, year ending March 2022’ on 27 October 2022, the ONS published the updated 2021 Census estimates, broken down by ethnicity, on 29 November 2022. The analysis included in the following chapter has therefore been updated to reflect these estimates (the analysis as first published used 2011 Census estimates). The newer Census estimates only affect analysis which uses residential population figures, that is, in the calculation of arrests per 1,000 population and disparity rates. Arrest volumes remain the same as previously published.

When an individual is arrested, they are asked to define their ethnicity. For the purpose of this analysis, these are grouped into the following six categories:

• White
• Black (or black British)
• Asian (or Asian British) – including Chinese from the year ending March 2020 onwards
• Mixed
• Other ethnic group – included Chinese for the years prior to March 2020
• Not stated

Arrests in the following section are compared with the year before the pandemic.

Compared with the year ending March 2020, the number of arrests fell in all ethnic groups. The black ethnic group showed the greatest fall of down 12.8%, followed by mixed (down 8.5%), and Asian (down 4.8%). People from any other ethnic group and white ethnic groups showed smaller falls (-1.2% and -0.6% respectively). Combined, the number of arrests of people from all minority ethnic groups (excluding white minorities) fell by 8.6%.

Table 4.1: Ethnic breakdown of persons arrested in England and Wales, year ending March 2022 compared with year ending March 2020

Self-defined ethnicity	Year ending 31 March 2020	Year ending 31 March 2022	% change
Asian (or Asian British)	44,160	42,028	-4.8%
Black (or black British)	58,502	51,018	-12.8%
Mixed	21,881	20,030	-8.5%
White	441,041	438,527	-0.6%
Other ethnic group	9,916	9,801	-1.2%
Not stated	100,976	101,632	0.6%
All minority ethnic groups (excluding white minorities)	134,459	122,877	-8.6%
Total	676,476	663,036	-2.0%

Source: Arrests tables A.04, Home Office

Excluding those who did not state their ethnicity (who accounted for around 15% of arrestees), proportions of arrests by ethnicity remained relatively stable to the year ending March 2020. Of those arrested, 78% of those defined their ethnicity as White (77% in March 2020), 9% as black (previously 10%) and 7% as Asian (previously 8%). The remaining people considered themselves either of mixed ethnicity (4%) or any other ethnic group (2%) (also similar to the previous year).

The following analysis considers the ethnicity of those arrested relative to the population as a whole, by calculating arrest rates for each ethnic group. The relative ratios presented in this section give an indication of the difference in arrest rates for people from black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic backgrounds compared with those who identify as White. Since the last release of this bulletin for year ending March 2022, this analysis has been updated from using the Census 2011 population estimates to using the 2021 Census population estimates.

The 2021 census showed an increase in the proportions of people identifying as each of black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic groups compared to 2011. The updated analysis using the 2021 census population has therefore reduced disparity rates in all minority ethnic groups (excluding white minorities). The disparity rate of the black ethnic group reduced from 3.0 times higher when analysing the data using the 2011 census population, to 2.4 times higher using the 2021 census. Similarly, the disparity rate of the mixed ethnic group fell from 1.8 to 1.3 (Table 4.2).

For the first time, when using 2021 Census estimates, the Asian and other ethnic groups were arrested at rates lower than the white ethnic group. The arrest rate for the Asian group decreased from 1.1 times that of white people to 0.8, whereas the other ethnic group saw a larger fall from 1.9 to 0.9 times.

Combined, people of minority ethnic backgrounds excluding white minorities were arrested at a rate of 1.3 times higher than those who identified themselves to be White in the latest year (down from 1.7 times when 2011 Census estimates are used).

Table 4.2: Disparity rate compared to white ethnic group, by self-defined ethnicity, England and Wales, year ending March 2022

Self-defined ethnicity	2011 Census	2021 Census
Asian (or Asian British)	1.1	0.8
Black (or black British)	3.0	2.4
Mixed	1.8	1.3
Other	1.9	0.9
All minority ethnic groups (excluding white minorities)	1.7	1.3

Source: Arrests tables A.04 and Arrests table A.01, Home Office

Table 4.3 shows the arrest rate per 1,000 population. Compared with analysis using the 2011 Census, the arrest rates using the 2021 Census population are lower for all ethnic groups except the white ethnic group, where it remained the same.

Table 4.3 Arrest rate per 1000 population by self-defined ethnicity, England and Wales, year ending March 2022

Self-defined ethnicity	2011 Census	2021 Census
Asian (or Asian British)	10	8
Black (or black British)	27	21
Mixed	16	12
White	9	9
Other	17	8
All minority ethnic groups (excluding white minorities)	16	11
Total	12	11

Source: Arrests tables A.04 and Arrests table A.01, Home Office

Commentary on arrest rate by Police Force Area can be found in the previous release of this bulletin. This analysis used rounded estimates from the 2021 census, therefore has not changed ^{[footnote 2]}.

5. Annex

Table A1: Number of stop and searches in the year ending March 2022, by self-defined ethnicity and Police Force Area

Geocode	Police Force Area	Asian	Black	Mixed	Other	White	Total
E23000013	Cleveland	206	94	84	79	4,327	4,790
E23000008	Durham	25	19	15	10	2,010	2,079
E23000007	Northumbria	165	84	41	8	3,869	4,167
E12000001	North East Region	396	197	140	97	10,206	11,036
E23000006	Cheshire	42	94	103	37	4,711	4,987
E23000002	Cumbria	54	29	23	17	1,964	2,087
E23000005	Greater Manchester	1,130	801	238	117	5,404	7,690
E23000003	Lancashire	1,089	165	152	38	7,006	8,450
E23000004	Merseyside	399	721	607	471	37,790	39,988
E12000002	North West Region	2,714	1,810	1,123	680	56,875	63,202
E23000012	Humberside	138	135	83	30	4,514	4,900
E23000009	North Yorkshire	112	30	37	14	1,475	1,668
E23000011	South Yorkshire	756	533	204	100	7,494	9,087
E23000010	West Yorkshire	4,126	775	684	145	8,355	14,085
E12000003	Yorkshire and the Humber Region	5,132	1,473	1,008	289	21,838	29,740
E23000018	Derbyshire	158	60	68	16	1,046	1,348
E23000021	Leicestershire	666	477	181	53	3,055	4,432
E23000020	Lincolnshire	33	64	36	28	2,339	2,500
E23000022	Northamptonshire	128	316	134	17	2,164	2,759
E23000019	Nottinghamshire	207	327	167	43	2,547	3,291
E12000004	East Midlands Region	1,192	1,244	586	157	11,151	14,330
E23000015	Staffordshire	309	133	141	25	3,324	3,932
E23000017	Warwickshire	120	131	69	19	1,222	1,561
E23000016	West Mercia	264	182	76	24	3,199	3,745
E23000014	West Midlands	6,836	3,537	1,926	19	9,364	21,682
E12000005	West Midlands Region	7,529	3,983	2,212	87	17,109	30,920
E23000026	Bedfordshire	683	430	126	48	1,679	2,966
E23000023	Cambridgeshire	195	147	81	51	1,580	2,054
E23000028	Essex	552	1,045	389	142	11,916	14,044
E23000027	Hertfordshire	450	665	266	129	4,437	5,947
E23000024	Norfolk	64	168	127	63	4,343	4,765
E23000025	Suffolk	66	271	108	84	3,108	3,637
E12000006	East of England Region	2,010	2,726	1,097	517	27,063	33,413
E23000034	London, City of	274	254	89	40	806	1,463
E23000001	Metropolitan Police	25,624	48,158	7,230	5,682	66,023	152,717
E12000007	London Region	25,898	48,412	7,319	5,722	66,829	154,180
E23000030	Hampshire	282	532	294	101	7,151	8,360
E23000032	Kent	354	746	390	232	8,261	9,983
E23000031	Surrey	334	290	146	67	3,391	4,228
E23000033	Sussex	183	427	153	94	4,580	5,437
E23000029	Thames Valley	1,591	1,017	590	88	7,193	10,479
E12000008	South East Region	2,744	3,012	1,573	582	30,576	38,487
E23000036	Avon and Somerset	87	417	207	67	4,437	5,215
E23000035	Devon and Cornwall	62	85	55	13	3,679	3,894
E23000039	Dorset	35	134	73	16	1,607	1,865
E23000037	Gloucestershire	38	74	84	3	1,503	1,702
E23000038	Wiltshire	51	88	39	4	1,197	1,379
E12000009	South West Region	273	798	458	103	12,423	14,055
E92000001	ENGLAND	47,888	63,655	15,516	8,234	254,070	389,363
W15000004	Dyfed-Powys	23	19	25	0	2,200	2,267
W15000002	Gwent	67	61	36	13	1,455	1,632
W15000001	North Wales	37	22	29	18	3,782	3,888
W15000003	South Wales	356	387	239	144	8,070	9,196
W92000004	WALES	483	489	329	175	15,507	16,983
NA	British Transport Police	558	1,358	362	129	4,710	7,117
K04000001	ENGLAND AND WALES	48,929	65,502	16,207	8,538	274,287	413,463

Source: SS_16, Stop and search summary tables, Home Office

Notes:

1. Excludes vehicle only searches and searches where the ethnicity is unknown.

Table A2: Population distribution in England and Wales by Police Force Area and ethnic group, 2021 Census estimates

Geocode	Police Force Area	Asian	Black	Mixed	Other	White
E23000013	Cleveland	4.7	1.2	1.3	1.1	91.7
E23000008	Durham	1.7	0.4	1.0	0.5	96.4
E23000007	Northumbria	4.2	1.2	1.3	1.2	92.1
E12000001	North East Region	3.7	1.0	1.3	1.0	93.0
E23000006	Cheshire	2.3	0.6	1.6	0.7	94.8
E23000002	Cumbria	1.0	0.2	0.8	0.3	97.6
E23000005	Greater Manchester	13.6	4.7	3.0	2.3	76.4
E23000003	Lancashire	10.4	0.7	1.6	0.8	86.6
E23000004	Merseyside	3.1	1.5	2.1	1.5	91.7
E12000002	North West Region	8.4	2.3	2.2	1.5	85.6
E23000012	Humberside	2.1	0.8	1.2	0.9	95.0
E23000009	North Yorkshire	1.9	0.5	1.3	0.6	95.7
E23000011	South Yorkshire	5.8	2.5	2.2	1.8	87.7
E23000010	West Yorkshire	15.9	3.1	2.8	1.7	76.6
E12000003	Yorkshire and the Humber Region	8.9	2.1	2.1	1.4	85.4
E23000018	Derbyshire	5.0	1.4	1.9	1.0	90.7
E23000021	Leicestershire	19.5	3.3	2.7	2.0	72.5
E23000020	Lincolnshire	1.6	0.6	1.3	0.6	96.0
E23000022	Northamptonshire	4.5	4.0	2.6	1.0	87.9
E23000019	Nottinghamshire	6.3	3.7	3.1	1.5	85.4
E12000004	East Midlands Region	8.0	2.7	2.4	1.3	85.7
E23000015	Staffordshire	4.8	1.2	1.9	0.8	91.3
E23000017	Warwickshire	6.3	1.3	2.3	1.0	89.1
E23000016	West Mercia	2.7	0.9	1.7	0.6	94.2
E23000014	West Midlands	22.9	8.1	4.2	3.5	61.4
E12000005	West Midlands Region	13.3	4.5	3.0	2.1	77.0
E23000026	Bedfordshire	16.6	5.6	3.8	1.9	72.0
E23000023	Cambridgeshire	7.9	2.1	3.0	1.7	85.4
E23000028	Essex	4.2	3.4	2.6	1.0	88.8
E23000027	Hertfordshire	8.6	3.7	3.8	2.1	81.8
E23000024	Norfolk	2.1	0.9	1.6	0.7	94.7
E23000025	Suffolk	2.3	1.3	2.3	0.9	93.1
E12000006	East of England Region	6.4	2.9	2.8	1.4	86.5
E23000034	London, City of	16.8	2.7	5.5	5.6	69.4
E23000001	Metropolitan Police	20.7	13.5	5.7	6.3	53.7
E12000007	London Region	20.7	13.5	5.7	6.3	53.8
E23000030	Hampshire	4.8	1.5	2.1	1.1	90.6
E23000032	Kent	4.7	3.1	2.4	1.3	88.6
E23000031	Surrey	7.7	1.7	3.4	1.7	85.5
E23000033	Sussex	3.7	1.3	2.7	1.3	91.0
E23000029	Thames Valley	12.4	3.7	3.5	1.9	78.4
E12000008	South East Region	7.0	2.4	2.8	1.5	86.3
E23000036	Avon and Somerset	3.5	2.2	2.5	1.0	90.8
E23000035	Devon and Cornwall	1.3	0.4	1.4	0.7	96.2
E23000039	Dorset	2.3	0.7	2.0	0.9	94.1
E23000037	Gloucestershire	2.9	1.2	2.2	0.7	93.1
E23000038	Wiltshire	5.1	1.6	2.0	0.9	90.3
E12000009	South West Region	2.8	1.2	2.0	0.9	93.1
E92000001	ENGLAND	9.6	4.2	3.0	2.2	81.0
W15000004	Dyfed-Powys	1.1	0.2	1.0	0.4	97.3
W15000002	Gwent	2.9	0.8	1.5	0.7	94.2
W15000001	North Wales	1.4	0.3	1.1	0.4	96.8
W15000003	South Wales	4.3	1.5	2.1	1.4	90.7
W92000004	WALES	2.9	0.9	1.6	0.9	93.8
K04000001	ENGLAND AND WALES	9.3	4.0	2.9	2.1	81.7

Source: 2021 Census estimates, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. Due to rounding percentages may not total 100%.

1. A Notifiable Offence is any offence where the police must inform the Home Office by completing a crime report form for statistical purposes. Notifiable offences cover all crimes that must or could be heard at a Crown Court and, except for common assaults, excludes summary only offences that are dealt with exclusively by magistrates’ courts. There are strict rules regarding the recording of crime which is outlined in the Home Office counting rules for recorded crime. ↩

2. In the previous version of this bulletin it was noted that population data from the 2011 Census showed that 40% of residents of the Metropolitan Police area were of black, Asian, mixed of other ethnic backgrounds. With the new 2021 Census figures, this proportion has risen to 46%. Similarly, the population of all ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) in Dyfed-Powys has risen to 3% from 2%, whereas for Cumbria it has remained at 2%. ↩