Stop and Search

The force has a commitment to becoming more open and transparent. Part of this is being better at sharing and engaging on some of the powers that our police officers use to keep people safe, and that includes Stop and Search.

We believe that greater scrutiny will further ensure that our use of these is right and proper.

What are we searching for?

In the latest quarter - covering October to December last year - our Rushmoor officers conducted 143 stops, with 52 of these (36 per cent) resulting in a positive outcome, which is where we find an item during the search.

Of these stops, 106 (74 per cent) were related to drugs, while we also carried out 14 searches for stolen property, and 10 for offensive weapons. There was a further five searches linked to firearms and the same number for people believed to be going equipped to steal. 

While our stop and search powers are intended to be a less intrusive power, which means we do not necessarily need to arrest someone to facilitate enquiries, we did make 30 arrests following searches in this period. In 91 instances, no further action was taken, while we also issued 16 community resolutions.

Is our use of stop and search in Rushmoor proportionate?

Our data from the latest quarter shows a black person is 2.4 times as likely to be stopped, and a person of mixed heritage is 1.8 times as likely to be stopped in Rushmoor than a white person, this is based on eight stops of a black person in this period and 6 of a mixed race person.

We know that some families who have lost loved ones to violence and drug related harm advocate police searches but we also know many people have concerns about whether policing powers are used fairly. As a force we know that it helps us to keep people safe and spend considerable time scrutinising how it is used. But, we also recognise that our view alone is not enough.

We need views from others so we are doing far more engagement than we did previously. Scrutiny involving our Independent Advisory Groups (made up of members of the public) is therefore part of our approach, and we would encourage people all of our communities to get involved in these groups. ​We also want to hear more views on Stop and Search. Follow us on Facebook if you’d like to take part in discussions about policing in your local area.

Where can I find more information about Stop & Search in Rushmoor?

You can see more about the numbers by looking at the infographic, below. We have also provided the same data in a different format if that is easier for you.

Where can I find previous data for Rushmoor?

If you want to take a look at data from previous quarters for the Rushmoor district, then you can find that here.

What is the Hart and Rushmoor Independent Advisory Group (IAG) and what do they do?

Each quarter, members of our community meet as part of our IAG to discuss stop and search within the district and conduct a dip sample of searches to ensure they are lawful and proportionate.

Along with this, they will also take a look at locations where there have been a number of stops and individuals who have been stopped multiple times.

As part of our continued commitment to ensuring our use of the Stop and Search powers available to us and the scrutiny of this are transparent, we are now publishing notes from our IAG meetings.

These notes are anonymised, but we hope will help show what our group does. We are keen to broaden this group further and get the views of our community, in particular those with direct experience of stop and search.

If you wish to find out more or join our IAG, you can email [email protected]