HC Deb 21 March 1984 vol 56 cc469-70W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate for each police force area, for the last year for which figures are available, the number of stops and searches made under section 23(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and, in each case, the number of persons charged.

Mr. Hurd

[pursuant to his reply, 22 February 1984, c. 527]: The information requested about the number of persons stopped and searched is given in the following table. Information is not collected centrally about the numbers charged as a result of these stops and searches.

Persons stopped and searched under section 23(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, by police force area.

England and Wales 1982
Police force Number of persons
Avon and Somerset 1,205
Bedfordshire 28
Cambridgeshire 613
Cheshire 239
Cleveland 60
Cumbria 525
Derbyshire 369
Devon and Cornwall 736
Dorset 430
Durham 215
Essex 169
Gloucestershire 294
Greater Manchester 1,799
Hampshire 345
Hertfordshire 853
Humberside 141
Kent 759
Lancashire 217
Leicestershire 580
Lincolnshire 315
London, City of 127
Metropolitan Police District *12,471
Merseyside 1,020
Norfolk 86
Northamptonshire 131
Northumbria 140
North Yorkshire 73
Nottinghamshire 216
South Yorkshire 313
Staffordshire 116
Suffolk 494
Surrey 614
Sussex 1,369
Thames Valley 221
Warwickshire 95
West Mercia 502
West Midlands 262
West Yorkshire 248
Wiltshire 781
Dyfed-Powys 180
Gwent 461
North Wales 204
South Wales 564
TOTAL 30,580
* This figure is based on information recorded in station registers for operational purposes and as this form of recording is unsuitable for the preparation of statistical summaries the resultant figure may be subject to some error.