Stop and Search

(asked on 12th June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) his Department and (b) individual police forces have imposed targets on the number of stop and searches to be carried out.


Answered by
Nick Hurd Portrait
Nick Hurd
This question was answered on 17th June 2019

The Home Office does not set stop and search targets

Stop and search can only be carried out when legal thresholds have been met, and as such setting central targets for the number of searches would not be appropriate.

We are not aware of targets being set by individual forces. Stop and search can be an important tool in fighting violence, with searches last year resulting in nearly 8,000 arrests for weapons and firearms offences.

Reticulating Splines