Transparency

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?

Searches for drugs accounted for a large proportion of our stops in the last quarter. This is in line with our focus on tackling drug supply in Havant.

Our positive outcomes, which is when we find the item we are searching for, reflect this, with the majority being related to drugs.

Is our use of Stop and Search in Havant proportionate?

In Havant, a black person was 3 times more likely to be stopped than a white person in quarter two.

In terms of disproportionality of stops, three of our 120 (2.5%) searches were conducted on someone identifying themselves as being black or from an ethnic minority, with another 18 choosing not to define their ethnicity. 

Those searches were all completed in response to ongoing and dynamic incidents, where the person stopped either matched the description of a suspect or was named by another person. These searches were conducted under the suspicion there was knives or stolen property present.

Searches completed face scrutiny at both Sergeant and Inspector level where Body Worn Video is dip sampled to identify learning and share best practice.  There is a further layer of scrutiny in addition to this by our Independent Advisory Group which is made up of members of the community.

Where can I find more information about Stop and Search in Havant?

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.

How does this fit in with our District Priorities in Havant?

The current district priorities in Havant are:

• Tackling drug supply and drug-related harm
• Domestic abuse