Hertfordshire Constabulary
About this force
| Area | 632 square miles |
|---|---|
| Recording stop and account? | No |
| Force website | Visit website |
About the PCC in this area
| Police & Crime Commissioner | David Lloyd (Conservative) |
|---|---|
| Email address | commissioner@herts.pnn.police.uk |
| PCC website | Visit website |
How many searches do police do?
April 2016 – March 2017
The police conducted 7,450 stop and searches under PACE Section 1 across the area covered by Hertfordshire Constabulary.
This was a reduction of 9% 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 8,189 stop and searches under PACE Section 1 across the area covered by Hertfordshire Constabulary.
This was a reduction of 28% 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.
Stop and account
Hertfordshire Constabulary do not record stop and accounts.
The Hertfordshire Constabulary no longer record stop and account. The last available data showed that black people were stopped at a rate of 2.5 of white people across Hertfordshire (2008-09).
What are searches targeted at?
| Target | Proportion of searches |
|---|---|
| Drugs | 61% |
| Going equipped | 17% |
| Stolen property | 13% |
| Offensive weapons | 5% |
| Other | 4% |
| Criminal damage | 1% |
| Firearms | <1% |
How effective are police stop and searches?
A staggering 61% of all searches conducted in 2016/17 in Hertfordshire were for drugs rather than serious or violent crime- one of the highest in the country and up from 60% in the previous year. These searches also tend to target low-level cannabis possession rather than drugs suppliers.
April 2016 – March 2017
16% of stop and searches conducted under PACE Section 1 lead to an arrest.
April 2015 – March 2016
14% of stop and searches conducted under PACE Section 1 lead to an arrest.
Who is getting searched?
Racial disproportionality of searches has increased in recent years for black people and marginally for other groups. In 2016/17, black people were searched at approximately 5 times the rate of whites (up from almost 4 times in the previous year). People from mixed backgrounds were searched at two and a half times the rate of whites and Asians were searched at over one and a half times the rate of whites (both similar to the previous year). People from Chinese and 'other' ethnic backgrounds were searched at a marginally higher rate than white people (no change). People from white backgrounds were under-represented in searches.
As in recent years, there were no searches were conducted under section 60 in 2016/17, a power that does not require officers to have any suspicion that a person is carrying weapons in order to search them for those items.
PACE disproportionality ratios
| Ethnic groups | Ratio |
|---|---|
| White : Black | 1 : 5.1 |
| White : Asian | 1 : 1.5 |
| White : Mixed | 1 : 2.6 |
| White : Other | 1 : 1.1 |