Cheshire Constabulary
About this force
| Area | 200 square miles |
|---|---|
| Recording stop and account? | No |
| Force website | Visit website |
About the PCC in this area
| Police & Crime Commissioner | David Keane (Labour) |
|---|---|
| PCC website | Visit website |
How many searches do police do?
April 2017 – March 2018
The police conducted 2,211 stop and searches under PACE Section 1 across the area covered by Cheshire Constabulary.
This was a reduction of 17% from the previous year.
There were 0 stop and searches under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act, a power which doesn’t require individual reasonable suspicion.
April 2016 – March 2017
The police conducted 2,676 stop and searches under PACE Section 1 across the area covered by Cheshire Constabulary.
This was a reduction of 55% from the previous year.
There were 0 stop and searches under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act, a power which doesn’t require individual reasonable suspicion.
April 2015 – March 2016
The police conducted 5,891 stop and searches under PACE Section 1 across the area covered by Cheshire Constabulary.
This was a reduction of 37% from the previous year.
There were 1 stop and searches under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act, a power which doesn’t require individual reasonable suspicion.
This was a reduction of 95% from the previous year.
Stop and account
Cheshire Constabulary do not record stop and accounts.
What are searches targeted at?
| Target | Proportion of searches |
|---|---|
| Drugs | 73% |
| Stolen property | 10% |
| Going equipped | 9% |
| Offensive weapons | 9% |
| Other | 0% |
| Criminal damage | 0% |
| Firearms | 0% |
How effective are police stop and searches?
A staggering 71% of all searches across Cheshire in 2017/18 was for drugs rather than directed serious or violent crimes e.g. firearms or offensive weapons, much like the previous financial year, when the figure was 73%. This means that this police force is one of the highest searching constabularies for drugs; most of these searches are for low level possession (predominantely cannabis) rather than being directed towards drug dealers or suppliers.
April 2017 – March 2018
18% of stop and searches conducted under PACE Section 1 lead to an arrest.
April 2016 – March 2017
8% of stop and searches conducted under PACE Section 1 lead to an arrest.
April 2015 – March 2016
12% of stop and searches conducted under PACE Section 1 lead to an arrest.
Who is getting searched?
Despite the overall reduction in recorded searches across Cheshire for the financial year 2017/18, black people were searched at just over seven times the rate of whites (up from just over four times), and people from mixed backgrounds were searched at almost double the rate of whites. The rate of searches among people from Chinese or other minority groups and those of asian ethnicity were less than that of whites in the region.
No-one was searched under section 60, a power that does not require officers to have any suspicion that a person is involved in criminality before detaining them for a search. In 2015/16, there was only one recorded use of the power.
PACE disproportionality ratios
| Ethnic groups | Ratio |
|---|---|
| White : Black | 1 : 7.2 |
| White : Asian | 1 : 0.7 |
| White : Mixed | 1 : 1.9 |
| White : Other | 1 : 0.4 |