§ Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrests were made in the Metropolitan Police area between 1976 and the latest convenient date for offences under section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824, by police division and ethnic classification.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 28th November 1978; Vol. 959, c. 129]gave the following information:
I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the
PERSONS ARRESTED FOR BEING SUSPECTED OF FREQUENTING A PUBLIC PLACE WITH INTENT TO COMMIT AN ARRESTABLE OFFENCE: BY DIVISION AND ETHNIC APPEARANCE METROPOLITAN POLICE DISTRICT Number of person Ethnic appearance Division White-skinned European Dark-skinned European Black skinned (including West Indian/African) Indian/Pakistani Chinese/Japans Arabian/Egyptian Not known Total 1976 A … 73 14 38 1 1 2 0 129 B … 46 7 72 2 0 2 0 129 C … 251 25 210 12 1 18 0 517 D … 113 2 90 3 1 2 0 211 E … 32 0 19 0 0 0 0 51 F … 55 2 13 0 1 0 0 71 G … 15 1 32 0 0 0 2 50 H … 42 1 24 1 0 0 0 63 I* … 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 J … 33 1 32 1 0 0 0 67 K … 44 1 17 7 0 0 0 69 L … 66 2 121 1 0 0 0 190 M … 26 1 33 0 0 0 0 60 N … 24 0 19 0 0 0 0 43 P … 35 0 24 0 0 0 0 59 Q … 46 1 37 1 0 0 0 85 R … 15 0 12 0 0 0 0 27 S … 32 0 16 0 0 0 0 48 T … 31 0 3 3 0 0 0 37 V … 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 10 W … 31 0 38 0 0 0 0 69 X … 18 0 6 3 0 0 0 27 Y … 41 1 18 1 0 0 0 61 Z … 16 1 10 1 0 0 0 28 TA … 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAL … 1,098 60 887 37 4 24 2 2,112 206W
1977 A … … 100 6 42 9 1 4 0 162 B … … 72 3 74 3 0 9 2 163 C … … 195 14 198 8 0 2 0 417 D … … 120 4 193 4 0 5 0 326 information requested is available for offences of being suspected of frequenting a public place with intent to commit an arrestable offence but that information for other offences under section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The information available relates to persons arrested by the police within the Metropolitan Police District and proceeded against by means of a charge, referral to a juvenile bureau, a caution or in some other way. Figures for arrests which were not followed by any action are not readily available. Figures for 1976, 1977 and the first three quarters of 1978 are given in the table below.
207W
Number of persons Ethnic appearance Division White-skinned European Dark-skinned European Black skinned (including West Indian/African) Indian/Pakistani Chinese/Japans Arabian/Egyptian Not known Total 1977 E … … 37 1 13 0 0 1 0 52 F … … 56 0 19 2 0 0 0 77 G … … 29 3 49 0 0 0 0 81 H … … 35 0 12 4 0 0 0 51 I* … … 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 J … … 37 2 28 0 2 1 0 70 K … … 38 0 10 6 0 0 0 54 L … … 58 5 178 2 1 0 0 244 M … … 46 1 35 0 0 0 0 82 N … … 42 3 6 1 0 0 0 52 P … … 34 1 40 0 0 3 0 78 Q … … 88 0 28 0 0 1 0 117 R … … 20 1 8 2 0 0 0 31 S … … 14 0 2 1 0 1 0 18 T … … 28 0 1 1 1 0 0 31 V … … 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 W … … 30 2 51 0 0 0 0 83 X … … 17 0 4 2 0 0 0 23 Y … … 24 2 23 0 0 0 0 49 Z … … 47 0 28 0 0 0 0 75 TA … … 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAL … 1,197 48 1,042 45 5 27 2 2,366
First quarter 1978 A … … 18 3 8 0 0 0 0 29 B … … 22 3 28 1 0 1 0 55 C … … 48 2 38 0 0 1 0 89 D … … 23 1 32 1 0 0 0 57 E … … 21 2 10 0 0 0 0 33 F … … 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 8 G … … 4 0 7 0 0 0 0 11 H … … 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 I* … … 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 J … … 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 14 K … … 19 0 3 3 0 0 0 25 L … … 15 3 34 0 0 0 0 52 M … … 10 0 16 0 0 0 0 26 N … … 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 P … … 11 0 8 0 0 0 0 19 Q … … 21 0 8 1 0 0 0 30 R … … 14 1 3 0 0 0 0 18 S … … 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 T … … 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 V … … 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 W … … 14 0 11 0 0 0 0 25 X … … 14 0 2 1 0 0 0 17 Y … … 11 2 2 0 0 0 0 15 Z … … 8 1 5 0 0 0 0 14 TA … … 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAL … 307 18 218 7 0 2 0 552 208W209W
Second quarter 1978 A … … 53 5 11 3 0 0 0 72 B … … 32 1 26 1 0 1 0 61 C … … 30 1 37 0 0 1 0 69 D … … 23 3 21 3 0 0 0 50 E … … 20 0 7 0 0 0 0 27
Number of persons Ethnic appearance Division White Skinned European Dark skinned European Black-skinned (including West Indian/African) Indian/Pakistani Chinese/Japanese Arabian/Egyptian Not know Total F … … 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 10 G … … 7 0 7 0 0 0 0 14 H … … 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 I … … 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 J … … 8 0 8 0 0 0 16 K … … 12 1 5 0 0 0 0 18 L … … 16 0 65 0 0 0 0 81 M … … 19 0 8 0 0 0 0 27 N … … 12 2 3 0 0 0 0 17 P … … 13 0 4 0 0 0 0 17 Q … … 21 1 14 1 0 0 0 37 R … … 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 S … … 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 T … … 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 V … … 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 W … … 15 0 15 0 0 0 0 30 X … … 10 0 2 2 0 0 0 14 Y … … 20 0 2 0 0 0 0 22 Z … … 12 0 3 0 0 0 0 15 TA … … 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAL … 355 14 242 10 0 2 0 623
Third quarter 1978 A … … 31 5 21 1 0 1 0 59 B … … 19 4 35 1 0 1 0 60 C … … 36 7 51 1 0 1 0 96 D … … 14 1 54 1 0 1 0 71 E … … 14 2 3 0 0 0 19 F … … 8 1 3 0 0 0 0 12 G … … 7 2 4 1 0 0 0 14 H … … 13 0 6 0 0 0 0 19 I … … 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 J … … 15 0 3 0 0 0 0 18 K … … 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 L … … 6 0 22 0 0 0 0 29 M … … 11 1 7 0 0 0 0 19 N … … 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 10 P … … 6 0 5 0 0 0 0 11 Q … … 9 0 14 0 0 0 0 23 R … … 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 S … … 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 13 T … … 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 V … … 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 W … … 4 0 0 16 0 0 0 20 X … … 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 13 Y … … 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 12 Z … … 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 TA … … 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAl … 264 23 252 6 0 4 0 549 *Airport Division.