Stop and Search Data 2019 to 2021
Keywords
Stop, Search, Number, Searches, Resulted, Arrest, Ethnic, Group, Person, Stopped, Monthly, Percentages, Ethnicity, Outcome, Details.
Publication Number
PUB 1047
FOI Reference Number
15476
Request Title
Stop and Search Data
Date Range
2019 to 2021
Information Requested
The number of stop and searches carried out for the months:
March 2019
April 2019
May 2019
June 2019
July 2019
August 2019
September 2019
October 2019
November 2019
December 2019
January 2020
February 2020
March 2020
April 2020
May 2020
June 2020
July 2020
August 2020
September 2020
October 2020
November 2020
December 2020
January 2021
February 2021 (if available)
2. For each of the months above, the number of searches that resulted in arrest
2. The ethnic group of each person stopped and searched (expressed as monthly percentages if easier)
Disclosure with Exemptions
Full refusal with Section 21 exemption
Information Correct as at
N/A
Date of Disclosure
13 May 2021
Related Documents/Links
N/A
FOI 15476 Response
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating to your request, however, Essex Police are not obliged to provide information if the information held is already published or intended for future publication. Therefore, and in accordance with Section 17(1) of the FOIA, this communication must act as a refusal notice to provide all of the information that could be interpreted as being captured by your request on the basis that the exemption given at Section 21(1) of the FOIA applies (Information accessible by other means).
The legislation:
Section 21 Information accessible to applicant by other means
(1) Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise than under Section 1 is exempt information.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)—
(a) information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though it is accessible only on payment, and
(b) information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than by making the information available for inspection) to members of the public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), information which is held by a public authority and does not fall within subsection (2)(b) is not to be regarded as reasonably accessible to the applicant merely because the information is available from the public authority itself on request, unless the information is made available in accordance with the authority’s publication scheme and any payment required is specified in, or determined in accordance with, the scheme.
Section 21 of the Act (Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means) states that information is exempt information if it is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise than under Section 1 of the FOIA. Section 21 is an absolute exemption and where information falls within the scope of an absolute exemption, a public authority is not obliged to communicate it to an applicant and is also not obliged to comply with the duty to confirm or deny the existence of the information requested.
Having said that, and in an effort to assist, Essex Police can confirm the following:
The information requested including date of the stop, stop details, ethnicity and outcome can be found via the below link:
When the web site has loaded, click the Data Tab, which takes you to Data Downloads. Next click the Custom Download Tab, select the Date Range and relevant Police Force. Then check the Include Stop and Search Data Option. Finally, click the Generate File Button.
You may also find the below of interest: