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 2019 – March 2020
The police conducted 3,783 stop and searches under PACE Section 1 across the area covered by Cheshire Constabulary.
This was an increase of 67% from the previous year.
There were 236 stop and searches under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act, a power which doesn’t require individual reasonable suspicion.
This was an increase of 275% from the previous year.
April 2018 – March 2019
The police conducted 2,261 stop and searches under PACE Section 1 across the area covered by Cheshire Constabulary.
This was an increase of 2% from the previous year.
There were 63 stop and searches under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act, a power which doesn’t require individual reasonable suspicion.
This was an increase of 2% from the previous year.
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.
Stop and account
Cheshire Constabulary do not record stop and accounts.
What are searches targeted at?
| Target | Proportion of searches |
|---|---|
| Drugs | 68% |
| Offensive weapons | 13% |
| Going equipped | 10% |
| Stolen property | 6% |
| Criminal damage | 2% |
| Other | <1% |
| Firearms | <1% |
How effective are police stop and searches?
A staggering 68% of all searches across Cheshire in 2019/20 were for drugs rather than directed serious or violent crimes, slightly down on the previous year (72%). Most searches are likely to detect low-level possession of cannabis rather than drug dealers or the suppliers of harder drugs.
April 2019 – March 2020
15% of stop and searches conducted under PACE Section 1 lead to an arrest.
3% of stop and searches conducted under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act lead to an arrest.
April 2018 – March 2019
18% of stop and searches conducted under PACE Section 1 lead to an arrest.
1% of stop and searches conducted under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act lead to an arrest.
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.
Who is getting searched?
In 2019/20:
• Black people in Cheshire were searched at nearly seven and a half times the rate of White people
• People from Mixed backgrounds were searched at three times the rate of White people
• Asians were searched at a lower rate than Whites
• Chinese or other ethnicities were searched at a much lower rate than Whites
There were 236 recorded searches under section 60, a nearly fourfold increase on the previous year. Section 60 is a power that does not require officers to have any suspicion that a person is involved in criminality before detaining them for a search. Six searches led to arrests under the power, of which two were for possession of offensive weapons.
PACE disproportionality ratios
| Ethnic groups | Ratio |
|---|---|
| White : Black | 1 : 7.4 |
| White : Asian | 1 : 0.8 |
| White : Mixed | 1 : 3.0 |
| White : Other | 1 : 0.4 |