Arrests
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate toBy ethnicity section
- 4. Navigate toBy ethnicity over time to 2019 section
- 5. Navigate toBy ethnicity over time from 2019 section
- 6. Navigate toBy ethnicity and area section
- 7. Navigate toBy ethnicity and sex section
- 8. Navigate toData sources section
- 9. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- there were 646,292 arrests between April 2020 and March 2021 – over 30,000 fewer than the previous year
- black people were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as white people – there were 29 arrests for every 1,000 black people, and 9 arrests for every 1,000 white people
- overall, men were 6 times as likely to be arrested as women – there were 20 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 3 arrests for every 1,000 women
- black men were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as white men – there were 54 arrests for every 1,000 black men, and 15 arrests for every 1,000 white men
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
This data measures the number of arrests for 'notifiable offences' – offences for which the police must complete a crime report.
Rates of arrest per 1,000 people are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Unrounded data was used to work out arrest rates and differences between ethnic groups
Not included in the data
Lancashire police force is excluded from the data to March 2019 as they were unable to provide arrests data for the period from April 2017 to March 2019. Arrest and population estimates for Lancashire have been removed from all figures to 2019 so you can compare between years. You can download the data for Lancashire from April 2006 to March 2017.
The City of London police force area has been excluded due to the small number of people living in the area compared with those who visit.
How arrest rates are calculated
The arrest rate is the number of people arrested from a particular ethnic group out of every 1,000 people from the same group.
A person arrested in a particular area may not necessarily live in that area. Population estimates for police force areas are based on permanent residents of that area as reported in the 2011 Census. Read more about problems using Census data to work out rates.
We use ‘relative likelihoods’ in the data to make comparisons, for example ‘black people were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as white people’. You can read more about using relative likelihoods to compare ethnic disparities.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data from April 2019 to March 2021 uses the 18 ethnic groups from the 2011 Census. Data from April 2009 to March 2019 uses the 16 ethnic groups from the 2001 Census. A person gives their ethnicity at the time of arrest. Where ethnicity is not given, it is shown as ‘unknown’ in the tables.
In the 15 years to March 2021, the percentage of people arrested whose ethnicity was not known has varied. It was lowest (2%) in the years between 2008/09 and 2013/14, and has been at its highest (15%) between 2019 and 2021.
Methodology
A person arrested for a notifiable offence is counted each time they are arrested. This is as long as the offence is not related to one that happened earlier in the same financial year (April to March). If it is connected, or if a person has been arrested for more than one notifiable offence on the same occasion, the offence with the highest maximum penalty is recorded.
Someone who is arrested is usually asked for their ethnicity. The circumstances of an arrest may affect the accuracy of this information.
In the data file
See download the data for the number of arrests by area and ethnicity.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Rate per 1,000 | Number of arrests |
|---|---|---|
| All | 12 | 646,292 |
| Asian | 11 | 44,352 |
| Bangladeshi | 14 | 6,186 |
| Chinese | 3 | 1,092 |
| Indian | 6 | 7,925 |
| Pakistani | 14 | 16,068 |
| Asian other | 16 | 13,081 |
| Black | 29 | 54,193 |
| Black African | 21 | 20,740 |
| Black Caribbean | 28 | 16,445 |
| Black other | 61 | 17,008 |
| Mixed | 17 | 20,430 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 7 | 2,258 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 15 | 2,481 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 23 | 9,782 |
| Mixed other | 20 | 5,909 |
| White | 9 | 422,037 |
| White British | 8 | 372,116 |
| White Irish | 10 | 5,458 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | 14 | 832 |
| White other | 18 | 43,631 |
| Other | 18 | 9,935 |
| Arab | 3 | 713 |
| Any other | 28 | 9,222 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 95,345 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Arrests By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that, in the year to March 2021:
- there were 646,292 arrests in England and Wales – a rate of 12 arrests per 1,000 people
- black people were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as white people – there were 29 arrests for every 1,000 black people, and 9 arrests for every 1,000 white people
- people with mixed ethnicity were nearly twice as likely to be arrested as white people – there were 17 arrests for every 1,000 people with mixed ethnicity
4. By ethnicity over time to 2019
| All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other including Chinese | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | All Rate per 1,000 | All Number of arrests | Asian Rate per 1,000 | Asian Number of arrests | Black Rate per 1,000 | Black Number of arrests | Mixed Rate per 1,000 | Mixed Number of arrests | White Rate per 1,000 | White Number of arrests | Other inc Chinese Rate per 1,000 | Other inc Chinese Number of arrests |
| 2006/07 | 26.1 | 1,423,562 | 18.2 | 67,542 | 56.4 | 104,888 | 33.2 | 40,092 | 23.2 | 1,086,449 | 20.4 | 19,348 |
| 2007/08 | 26.1 | 1,427,387 | 19.5 | 72,521 | 58.6 | 108,937 | 33.0 | 39,870 | 24.0 | 1,126,577 | 22.2 | 21,046 |
| 2008/09 | 26.0 | 1,417,467 | 20.6 | 76,298 | 59.7 | 111,064 | 32.6 | 39,354 | 24.3 | 1,137,578 | 22.1 | 20,885 |
| 2009/10 | 24.6 | 1,342,487 | 20.4 | 75,800 | 59.5 | 110,712 | 32.6 | 39,371 | 22.7 | 1,064,049 | 21.3 | 20,184 |
| 2010/11 | 24.0 | 1,310,228 | 20.9 | 77,469 | 60.7 | 112,816 | 33.1 | 39,985 | 22.1 | 1,035,418 | 20.6 | 19,492 |
| 2011/12 | 21.7 | 1,183,801 | 19.0 | 70,398 | 54.9 | 102,054 | 30.5 | 36,820 | 19.9 | 934,775 | 18.2 | 17,230 |
| 2012/13 | 19.0 | 1,037,805 | 17.1 | 63,337 | 47.4 | 88,184 | 26.7 | 32,217 | 17.4 | 816,749 | 16.2 | 15,363 |
| 2013/14 | 18.2 | 994,613 | 16.8 | 62,444 | 46.2 | 85,929 | 25.5 | 30,793 | 16.5 | 775,621 | 15.5 | 14,691 |
| 2014/15 | 16.8 | 919,121 | 15.9 | 59,172 | 44.7 | 83,108 | 24.2 | 29,208 | 15.1 | 709,958 | 14.6 | 13,840 |
| 2015/16 | 15.7 | 856,871 | 15.6 | 57,847 | 43.9 | 81,669 | 23.4 | 28,242 | 13.4 | 628,605 | 15.0 | 14,205 |
| 2016/17 | 13.6 | 742,407 | 13.6 | 50,434 | 38.0 | 70,730 | 20.3 | 24,553 | 11.4 | 534,883 | 12.7 | 11,973 |
| 2017/18 | 12.4 | 675,461 | 12.3 | 45,603 | 34.8 | 64,670 | 19.2 | 23,137 | 10.4 | 485,885 | 11.4 | 10,810 |
| 2018/19 | 12.2 | 667,188 | 11.6 | 42,875 | 32.3 | 60,114 | 18.1 | 21,827 | 9.6 | 451,903 | 11.7 | 11,058 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time to 2019’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time to 2019’ (CSV)
Summary of Arrests By ethnicity over time to 2019 Summary
Lancashire Police were unable to provide arrests data for the period April 2017 to March 2019. Arrest and population estimates for Lancashire have been removed from all figures so you can compare between years. You can download the data for Lancashire from April 2006 to March 2017.
The data shows that, in the 13 years to March 2019:
- the overall arrest rate in England and Wales went down from 26.1 to 12.2 arrests per 1,000 people, and numbers of arrests went down by over 750,000
- arrest rates for people from the Asian, white, and ‘other’ (including Chinese) ethnic groups were the same as or lower than average in almost every year of the period studied – the rates for people from the black and mixed ethnic groups were consistently higher than average
- the arrest rate for white people went down from 23.2 to 9.6 arrests per 1,000 people – a decrease of 58%
- the arrest rate for people with mixed ethnicity went down from 33.2 to 18.1 arrests per 1,000 people – a decrease of 46%
- the arrest rate for people from the ‘other’ ethnic group went down from 20.4 to 11.7 arrests per 1,000 people – a decrease of 43%
- the arrest rate for black people went down from 56.4 to 32.3 arrests per 1,000 people – a decrease of 43%
- the arrest rate for people from the Asian ethnic group went down from 18.2 to 11.6 arrests per 1,000 people – a decrease of 37%
5. By ethnicity over time from 2019
| 2019/20 | 2020/21 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2019/20 Rate per 1,000 | 2019/20 Number of arrests | 2020/21 Rate per 1,000 | 2020/21 Number of arrests |
| All | 12 | 676,476 | 12 | 646,292 |
| Asian | 10 | 44,160 | 11 | 44,352 |
| Black | 31 | 58,502 | 29 | 54,193 |
| Mixed | 18 | 21,881 | 17 | 20,430 |
| White | 9 | 441,041 | 9 | 422,037 |
| Other | 18 | 9,916 | 18 | 9,935 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time from 2019’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time from 2019’ (CSV)
Summary of Arrests By ethnicity over time from 2019 Summary
Data is shown separately for this 2-year period because different ethnic group categories were used, and Lancashire police force is included. This means data is not comparable with previous years.
The data shows that, in the 2 years to March 2021:
- the overall arrest rate in England and Wales stayed the same at 12 arrests per 1,000 people, and the number of arrests went down by over 30,000
- arrest rates for people from the Asian and white ethnic groups were lower than average in both years – the rates for people from the black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups were higher than average
- the arrest rate for people with a mixed ethnic background went down from 18 to 17 arrests per 1,000 people – a decrease of 7%
- the arrest rate for black people went down from 31 to 29 per 1,000 people – a decrease of 7%
- the arrest rates for people from the Asian (11 arrests per 1,000 people), white (9 arrests per 1,000 people) and ‘other’ (18 arrests per 1,000 people) ethnic groups stayed the same
6. By ethnicity and area
| All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | All Rate per 1,000 | All Number of arrests | Asian Rate per 1,000 | Asian Number of arrests | Black Rate per 1,000 | Black Number of arrests | Mixed Rate per 1,000 | Mixed Number of arrests | White Rate per 1,000 | White Number of arrests | Other Rate per 1,000 | Other Number of arrests |
| All | 12 | 646,292 | 11 | 44,352 | 29 | 54,193 | 17 | 20,430 | 9 | 422,037 | 18 | 9,935 |
| Avon and Somerset | 8 | 13,394 | 8 | 323 | 31 | 955 | 20 | 558 | 7 | 10,334 | 27 | 175 |
| Bedfordshire | 10 | 5,979 | 10 | 829 | 16 | 485 | 13 | 242 | 6 | 2,733 | 25 | 125 |
| Cambridgeshire | 7 | 5,985 | 5 | 222 | 18 | 181 | 5 | 80 | 3 | 2,444 | 11 | 55 |
| Cheshire | 9 | 9,085 | 8 | 122 | 59 | 193 | 12 | 124 | 8 | 8,392 | 69 | 139 |
| Cleveland | 21 | 11,964 | 15 | 286 | 57 | 180 | 33 | 189 | 21 | 11,188 | 42 | 95 |
| Cumbria | 14 | 6,830 | 19 | 77 | 102 | 59 | 14 | 36 | 13 | 6,533 | 97 | 44 |
| Derbyshire | 11 | 11,254 | 20 | 782 | 51 | 518 | 28 | 401 | 10 | 9,160 | 43 | 183 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 8 | 14,097 | 9 | 158 | 59 | 243 | 8 | 128 | 7 | 11,393 | 13 | 47 |
| Dorset | 7 | 5,512 | 9 | 133 | 73 | 233 | 16 | 153 | 7 | 4,786 | 24 | 61 |
| Durham | 12 | 7,167 | 13 | 91 | 46 | 49 | 11 | 48 | 11 | 6,919 | 0 | 0 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 9 | 4,695 | 10 | 54 | 62 | 53 | 11 | 35 | 9 | 4,454 | 15 | 15 |
| Essex | 10 | 16,449 | 10 | 467 | 32 | 1,095 | 19 | 515 | 7 | 11,783 | 20 | 145 |
| Gloucestershire | 8 | 4,789 | 9 | 113 | 54 | 276 | 19 | 167 | 7 | 4,012 | 29 | 32 |
| Greater Manchester | 8 | 22,608 | 7 | 2,009 | 19 | 1,375 | 11 | 641 | 7 | 14,919 | 11 | 308 |
| Gwent | 14 | 7,807 | 17 | 198 | 64 | 205 | 24 | 133 | 13 | 7,094 | 57 | 112 |
| Hampshire | 9 | 16,609 | 8 | 524 | 50 | 866 | 16 | 508 | 8 | 13,395 | 17 | 150 |
| Hertfordshire | 9 | 10,156 | 5 | 392 | 16 | 502 | 11 | 313 | 5 | 4,569 | 14 | 100 |
| Humberside | 25 | 22,822 | 11 | 183 | 41 | 186 | 19 | 158 | 10 | 8,623 | 49 | 174 |
| Kent | 13 | 23,154 | 6 | 347 | 20 | 450 | 8 | 209 | 5 | 7,620 | 20 | 171 |
| Lancashire | 10 | 13,919 | 3 | 312 | 15 | 78 | 6 | 105 | 4 | 4,634 | 9 | 40 |
| Leicestershire | 9 | 8,944 | 7 | 1,114 | 34 | 846 | 11 | 219 | 8 | 6,405 | 12 | 132 |
| Lincolnshire | 9 | 6,167 | 11 | 77 | 53 | 137 | 15 | 95 | 8 | 5,580 | 48 | 53 |
| London, City of | N/A* | 1,571 | N/A* | 224 | N/A* | 259 | N/A* | 115 | N/A* | 636 | N/A* | 58 |
| Merseyside | 12 | 16,949 | 8 | 239 | 37 | 539 | 14 | 291 | 11 | 14,954 | 22 | 223 |
| Metropolitan Police | 14 | 113,080 | 11 | 16,196 | 29 | 31,197 | 17 | 6,797 | 10 | 49,060 | 17 | 4,725 |
| Norfolk | 9 | 7,852 | 6 | 74 | 37 | 169 | 7 | 71 | 5 | 3,786 | 10 | 23 |
| North Wales | 20 | 13,787 | 11 | 95 | 51 | 77 | 37 | 184 | 19 | 12,807 | 69 | 132 |
| North Yorkshire | 12 | 9,216 | 9 | 123 | 21 | 76 | 17 | 128 | 11 | 8,182 | 14 | 29 |
| Northamptonshire | 10 | 6,987 | 8 | 196 | 35 | 588 | 19 | 267 | 8 | 5,337 | 32 | 83 |
| Northumbria | 15 | 20,922 | 14 | 656 | 32 | 287 | 9 | 115 | 15 | 19,588 | 3 | 20 |
| Nottinghamshire | 10 | 10,579 | 7 | 384 | 25 | 686 | 13 | 413 | 8 | 7,416 | 26 | 171 |
| South Wales | 14 | 18,414 | 9 | 406 | 50 | 634 | 19 | 330 | 13 | 15,040 | 21 | 217 |
| South Yorkshire | 15 | 19,625 | 16 | 1,009 | 31 | 797 | 21 | 434 | 14 | 16,443 | 21 | 324 |
| Staffordshire | 5 | 5,897 | 8 | 314 | 22 | 187 | 11 | 161 | 5 | 5,037 | 26 | 90 |
| Suffolk | 9 | 6,653 | 5 | 68 | 25 | 168 | 7 | 90 | 5 | 3,295 | 14 | 36 |
| Surrey | 8 | 9,062 | 9 | 541 | 36 | 450 | 15 | 363 | 7 | 6,967 | 13 | 121 |
| Sussex | 11 | 18,029 | 9 | 423 | 55 | 788 | 17 | 512 | 10 | 14,336 | 25 | 208 |
| Thames Valley | 15 | 34,390 | 17 | 3,538 | 40 | 2,766 | 34 | 1,892 | 11 | 21,961 | 16 | 258 |
| Warwickshire | 10 | 5,193 | 4 | 95 | 20 | 90 | 5 | 43 | 3 | 1,317 | 7 | 17 |
| West Mercia | 9 | 10,705 | 7 | 173 | 19 | 97 | 5 | 71 | 3 | 3,427 | 16 | 34 |
| West Midlands | 10 | 28,224 | 10 | 5,264 | 21 | 3,460 | 17 | 1,633 | 9 | 16,643 | 10 | 440 |
| West Yorkshire | 16 | 34,824 | 18 | 5,359 | 33 | 1,511 | 27 | 1,315 | 14 | 24,597 | 16 | 330 |
| Wiltshire | 7 | 4,947 | 8 | 162 | 33 | 202 | 15 | 148 | 7 | 4,238 | 22 | 40 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Arrests By ethnicity and area Summary
The data shows that:
- black people had the highest arrest rate per 1,000 people in almost every police force area
- in Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Humberside, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and North Wales, the ‘other’ ethnic group had the highest rate, and in Kent arrest rates were the same for the black and ‘other’ ethnic groups
- the biggest difference in the arrest rates between black people and white people was in Dorset, where black people were almost 11 times as likely to be arrested as white people
- whereas for Asian people, the biggest difference in arrest rates relative to white people was in West Mercia, where they were 2.4 times more likely to be arrested
- in Derbyshire, Thames Valley and Avon and Somerset, the arrest rate for people with mixed ethnicity was 3 times the rate for white people
- in London (the Metropolitan Police force area), 55% of people arrested were from the Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups combined – the highest percentage out of all police force areas
- in London, there were 18 arrests for every 1,000 people from ethnic minorities, compared with 10 arrests for every 1,000 white people
- Humberside had the highest overall arrest rate, with 25 arrests for every 1,000 people
- the police forces with the lowest overall arrest rates were Staffordshire (5 arrests for every 1,000 people), followed by Cambridgeshire, Dorset and Wiltshire (7 arrests per 1,000 people)
- differences in the arrest rates in England and Wales in part reflect population differences in those areas – for example, many more people from the Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups live in London than in North Wales
7. By ethnicity and sex
| All | Female | Male | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | All Rate per 1,000 | All Number of arrests | Female Rate per 1,000 | Female Number of arrests | Male Rate per 1,000 | Male Number of arrests |
| All | 12 | 646,292 | 3 | 94,823 | 20 | 549,878 |
| Asian | 11 | 44,352 | 2 | 3,510 | 19 | 40,711 |
| Bangladeshi | 14 | 6,186 | 2 | 411 | 25 | 5,764 |
| Chinese | 3 | 1,092 | 1 | 271 | 4 | 810 |
| Indian | 6 | 7,925 | 1 | 754 | 10 | 7,148 |
| Pakistani | 14 | 16,068 | 2 | 1,093 | 26 | 14,910 |
| Asian other | 16 | 13,081 | 2 | 981 | 30 | 12,079 |
| Black | 29 | 54,193 | 6 | 5,470 | 54 | 48,655 |
| Black African | 21 | 20,740 | 4 | 1,949 | 39 | 18,754 |
| Black Caribbean | 28 | 16,445 | 5 | 1,690 | 53 | 14,738 |
| Black other | 61 | 17,008 | 13 | 1,831 | 107 | 15,163 |
| Mixed | 17 | 20,430 | 5 | 3,041 | 28 | 17,348 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 7 | 2,258 | 2 | 313 | 11 | 1,940 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 15 | 2,481 | 4 | 309 | 26 | 2,169 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 23 | 9,782 | 7 | 1,471 | 39 | 8,289 |
| Mixed other | 20 | 5,909 | 6 | 948 | 35 | 4,950 |
| White | 9 | 422,037 | 3 | 67,848 | 15 | 353,440 |
| White British | 8 | 372,116 | 3 | 61,486 | 14 | 310,012 |
| White Irish | 10 | 5,458 | 3 | 789 | 18 | 4,661 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | 14 | 832 | 5 | 135 | 24 | 696 |
| White other | 18 | 43,631 | 4 | 5,438 | 32 | 38,071 |
| Other | 18 | 9,935 | 4 | 1,074 | 28 | 8,826 |
| Arab | 3 | 713 | 1 | 59 | 5 | 650 |
| Any other | 28 | 9,222 | 7 | 1,015 | 46 | 8,176 |
| Unknown | NA | 95,345 | NA | 13,880 | NA | 80,898 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and sex’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and sex’ (CSV)
Summary of Arrests By ethnicity and sex Summary
The data shows that:
- there were 20 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 3 arrests for every 1,000 women
- black men were over 3 times as likely to be arrested as white men – there were 54 arrests for every 1,000 black men, and 15 arrests for every 1,000 white men
- black women were twice as likely to be arrested as white women – there were 6 arrests for every 1,000 black women, and 3 arrests for every 1,000 white women
- in the Asian ethnic group, men were 11 times as likely to be arrested as women – there were 19 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 2 arrests for every 1,000 women, the biggest gap between men and women from the same ethnic group
8. Data sources
Source
Police powers and procedures: England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2021.
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Home Office
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Figures on arrests and stop and search reported to the Home Office are used to create greater transparency in the use of police powers in England and Wales. They enhance accountability by enabling the public to monitor police forces at a national and local level.
The data is used to form a national picture of the trends in arrests and stop and search. It informs discussions about crime, policing and criminal justice in government and academia, and ensures the public are accurately informed.
9. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, gender, age group, geography, numbers of arrests, rates of arrests, population estimates
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, gender, age group, geography, numbers of arrests, rates of arrests, population estimates
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, gender, age group, geography, numbers of arrests, rates of arrests, population estimates
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, gender, age group, geography, numbers of arrests, rates of arrests, population estimates