Arrests
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity over time section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and area section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and sex section
- 7. Navigate toData sources section
- 8. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in the year ending 31 March 2023, there were 668,979 arrests in England and Wales – up by over 14,000 compared with the previous year
- black people were 2.2 times as likely to be arrested as white people – there were 20.4 arrests for every 1,000 black people, and 9.4 for every 1,000 white people
- overall, men were almost 6 times as likely to be arrested as women – there were 19.4 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 3.3 for every 1,000 women
- black men were 2.4 times as likely to be arrested as white men – there were 38.2 arrests for every 1,000 black men, and 16.0 for every 1,000 white men
Further research:
A 2016 report by the Ministry of Justice analysed ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. It found that, compared with white people, other ethnic groups were over-represented at the arrests stage. They were also over-represented in being tried at Crown Court rather than a magistrates’ court, custodial remand and plea at Crown Court, custodial sentencing, and adjudications of prison discipline.
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.
Arrest rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Unrounded data was used to work out arrest rates and differences between ethnic groups.
Not included in the data
The City of London police force area is not included in the data. This is because of the small number of people living in the area compared with people visiting.
How arrest rates are calculated
For each ethnic group, the arrest rate is the number of people arrested for every 1,000 people from that group.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data for the 3 years from April 2020 to March 2023 uses the 19 ethnic groups from the 2021 Census.
Someone who is arrested is usually asked for their ethnicity. The circumstances of an arrest may affect the accuracy of this information.
If ethnicity is not given, it is shown as ‘unknown’ in the tables. Ethnicity was not given for 12.7% of arrests between April 2022 and March 2023.
In the 16 years to March 2023, the percentage of people arrested whose ethnicity was not known has varied. It was lowest (2%) between the years ending March 2009 and March 2014, and highest (15%) between the years ending March 2020 and March 2022.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
Data over time is shown from April 2020 to March 2023, using population figures from the 2021 Census to calculate arrest rates. This data is not comparable with previous years’ data, which is calculated using population rates from previous censuses.
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 2021 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 2 times as likely to be arrested as white people’. You can read more about using relative likelihoods to compare ethnic disparities.
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.
The Lancashire police force area was unable to submit arrests data in previous years (affecting the 2015 to 2020 data file). For comparability with these years, there is an ‘All - excluding Lancashire’ area.
In the data file
Download the data for:
- the number of arrests by area and ethnicity
- data from 2006 to 2019, which uses Census 2011 population figures to calculate rates
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Rate per 1,000 | Number of arrests |
|---|---|---|
| All | 11.2 | 668,979 |
| Asian | 8.4 | 46,396 |
| Bangladeshi | 8.7 | 5,581 |
| Chinese | 2.8 | 1,240 |
| Indian | 4.5 | 8,435 |
| Pakistani | 11.3 | 17,984 |
| Asian other | 13.5 | 13,156 |
| Black | 20.4 | 49,243 |
| Black African | 13.1 | 19,465 |
| Black Caribbean | 22.7 | 14,164 |
| Black other | 52.4 | 15,614 |
| Mixed | 12.5 | 21,555 |
| Mixed White and Asian | 5.0 | 2,421 |
| Mixed White and Black African | 10.4 | 2,597 |
| Mixed White and Black Caribbean | 18.0 | 9,213 |
| Mixed other | 15.7 | 7,324 |
| White | 9.4 | 456,393 |
| White British | 9.2 | 405,964 |
| Gypsy or Irish Traveller | 17.2 | 1,165 |
| White Irish | 10.7 | 5,441 |
| Roma | 0.1 | 8 |
| White other | 11.9 | 43,815 |
| Other | 8.5 | 10,656 |
| Arab | 4.8 | 1,605 |
| Any Other Ethnic Background | 9.8 | 9,051 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 84,736 |
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 2023:
- there were 668,979 arrests in England and Wales – a rate of 11.2 arrests for every 1,000 people
- the arrest rate for black people was 2.2 times higher than for white people – there were 20.4 arrests for every 1,000 black people, and 9.4 for every 1,000 white people
- the arrest rate for people with mixed ethnicity (12.5 arrests for every 1,000 people) was 1.3 times higher than for white people
- people from Asian (8.4 arrests for every 1,000 people) and ‘other’ (8.5 arrests) ethnic backgrounds had lower arrest rates than white people
4. By ethnicity over time
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2020/21 Rate per 1,000 | 2020/21 Number of arrests | 2021/22 Rate per 1,000 | 2021/22 Number of arrests | 2022/23 Rate per 1,000 | 2022/23 Number of arrests |
| All | 10.8 | 643,832 | 11.0 | 654,597 | 11.2 | 668,979 |
| Asian | 8.0 | 44,213 | 7.7 | 42,404 | 8.4 | 46,396 |
| Black | 22.5 | 54,097 | 21.3 | 51,326 | 20.4 | 49,243 |
| Mixed | 11.8 | 20,354 | 11.7 | 20,105 | 12.5 | 21,555 |
| White | 8.6 | 420,051 | 8.9 | 433,535 | 9.4 | 456,393 |
| Other | 7.9 | 9,927 | 7.8 | 9,796 | 8.5 | 10,656 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 95,190 | N/A* | 97,431 | N/A* | 84,736 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Arrests By ethnicity over time Summary
This data only includes the 3 years between April 2020 and March 2023. It cannot be compared to previous years because it uses different ethnic group categories and population data.
The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2023:
- the overall arrest rate in England and Wales stayed the same at around 11 arrests for every 1,000 people
- the number of arrests went up by around 25,000
- the arrest rate for black people went down from 22.5 to 20.4 arrests for every 1,000 people
- the arrest rate for every 1,000 people went up in the white (8.6 to 9.4), Asian (8.0 to 8.4) and ‘other’ (7.9 to 8.5) ethnic groups
5. 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 | 11.2 | 668,979 | 8.4 | 46,396 | 20.4 | 49,243 | 12.5 | 21,555 | 9.4 | 456,393 | 8.5 | 10,656 |
| All - excluding Lancashire | 11.3 | 657,217 | 8.5 | 45,711 | 20.5 | 49,086 | 12.6 | 21,376 | 9.4 | 447,057 | 8.5 | 10,574 |
| Avon and Somerset | 9.3 | 16,141 | 6.7 | 407 | 27.8 | 1,052 | 14.7 | 652 | 7.8 | 12,364 | 20.5 | 348 |
| Bedfordshire | 8.9 | 6,292 | 8.7 | 1,012 | 18.3 | 723 | 13.1 | 354 | 7.4 | 3,771 | 10.5 | 143 |
| Cambridgeshire | 8.8 | 7,873 | 6.7 | 473 | 22.7 | 419 | 8.8 | 237 | 7.4 | 5,665 | 6.9 | 102 |
| Cheshire | 14.1 | 15,488 | 8.6 | 217 | 39.6 | 262 | 12.0 | 210 | 13.9 | 14,407 | 25.9 | 206 |
| Cleveland | 20.5 | 11,679 | 12.8 | 344 | 32.6 | 219 | 35.7 | 271 | 19.8 | 10,326 | 30.9 | 192 |
| Cumbria | 14.7 | 7,362 | 24.9 | 122 | 69.5 | 83 | 10.7 | 43 | 14.3 | 6,964 | 29.8 | 51 |
| Derbyshire | 10.8 | 11,381 | 28.7 | 1,507 | 29.2 | 426 | 13.3 | 271 | 9.0 | 8,612 | 13.2 | 136 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 8.2 | 14,619 | 7.0 | 169 | 29.7 | 201 | 5.0 | 123 | 6.7 | 11,586 | 6.6 | 87 |
| Dorset | 6.7 | 5,217 | 6.9 | 123 | 45.5 | 242 | 12.0 | 187 | 5.6 | 4,116 | 5.0 | 36 |
| Durham | 14.3 | 8,982 | 11.3 | 122 | 34.0 | 83 | 11.2 | 72 | 14.1 | 8,532 | 19.3 | 58 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 11.2 | 5,781 | 12.2 | 71 | 45.7 | 59 | 12.0 | 59 | 10.9 | 5,467 | 4.7 | 9 |
| Essex | 9.4 | 17,405 | 7.3 | 568 | 19.1 | 1,209 | 14.0 | 664 | 8.3 | 13,785 | 9.8 | 189 |
| Gloucestershire | 9.3 | 6,004 | 7.0 | 129 | 47.2 | 367 | 17.7 | 250 | 7.9 | 4,765 | 12.3 | 54 |
| Greater Manchester | 15.3 | 43,745 | 10.5 | 4,075 | 21.1 | 2,835 | 12.9 | 1,113 | 12.6 | 27,697 | 7.3 | 489 |
| Gwent | 8.8 | 5,153 | 8.0 | 135 | 24.8 | 114 | 10.6 | 94 | 8.5 | 4,697 | 13.6 | 52 |
| Hampshire | 9.9 | 19,785 | 8.1 | 766 | 31.9 | 936 | 14.3 | 596 | 8.8 | 15,994 | 10.6 | 223 |
| Hertfordshire | 7.9 | 9,433 | 5.1 | 533 | 18.8 | 845 | 9.6 | 433 | 6.8 | 6,663 | 6.9 | 173 |
| Humberside | 16.0 | 14,980 | 11.7 | 225 | 40.4 | 308 | 24.5 | 273 | 14.9 | 13,287 | 23.0 | 198 |
| Kent | 10.5 | 19,516 | 5.5 | 474 | 15.0 | 852 | 11.9 | 531 | 8.9 | 14,596 | 12.5 | 291 |
| Lancashire | 7.7 | 11,762 | 4.3 | 685 | 15.6 | 157 | 7.2 | 179 | 7.0 | 9,336 | 6.9 | 82 |
| Leicestershire | 8.1 | 9,047 | 5.2 | 1,141 | 20.5 | 765 | 10.1 | 306 | 7.1 | 5,774 | 5.9 | 136 |
| Lincolnshire | 8.8 | 6,793 | 6.8 | 81 | 34.1 | 149 | 13.2 | 134 | 8.3 | 6,154 | 17.9 | 78 |
| London, City of | N/A* | 1,677 | N/A* | 167 | N/A* | 240 | N/A* | 102 | N/A* | 561 | N/A* | 94 |
| Merseyside | 11.7 | 16,698 | 6.7 | 299 | 22.1 | 485 | 13.0 | 395 | 11.0 | 14,310 | 22.1 | 479 |
| Metropolitan Police | 11.3 | 99,169 | 6.3 | 11,457 | 18.1 | 21,473 | 10.0 | 5,065 | 7.0 | 32,953 | 6.4 | 3,552 |
| Norfolk | 12.9 | 11,775 | 3.6 | 69 | 19.8 | 166 | 5.9 | 89 | 4.6 | 3,999 | 2.8 | 18 |
| North Wales | 10.5 | 7,239 | 6.0 | 56 | 28.4 | 66 | 11.3 | 82 | 9.9 | 6,591 | 49.9 | 140 |
| North Yorkshire | 9.7 | 7,922 | 8.7 | 138 | 28.3 | 107 | 13.4 | 140 | 8.9 | 6,980 | 12.3 | 59 |
| Northamptonshire | 12.4 | 9,770 | 10.4 | 367 | 25.2 | 798 | 15.5 | 314 | 11.4 | 7,887 | 14.5 | 111 |
| Northumbria | 13.7 | 19,878 | 11.7 | 704 | 20.6 | 359 | 9.7 | 187 | 13.7 | 18,310 | 2.7 | 47 |
| Nottinghamshire | 11.5 | 13,247 | 7.9 | 576 | 23.8 | 1,005 | 13.5 | 490 | 9.1 | 8,898 | 9.8 | 164 |
| South Wales | 12.4 | 16,297 | 7.4 | 424 | 23.9 | 462 | 11.4 | 315 | 11.2 | 13,345 | 12.8 | 230 |
| South Yorkshire | 12.6 | 17,326 | 11.9 | 940 | 21.9 | 744 | 12.7 | 387 | 11.9 | 14,327 | 10.8 | 273 |
| Staffordshire | 7.8 | 8,802 | 7.8 | 426 | 17.9 | 247 | 13.0 | 275 | 7.3 | 7,606 | 8.9 | 81 |
| Suffolk | 11.7 | 8,938 | 3.9 | 68 | 21.0 | 214 | 7.6 | 136 | 5.4 | 3,827 | 6.9 | 48 |
| Surrey | 7.6 | 9,111 | 5.9 | 549 | 20.6 | 430 | 8.6 | 349 | 6.9 | 7,069 | 8.3 | 169 |
| Sussex | 9.9 | 16,814 | 8.2 | 515 | 35.7 | 764 | 9.9 | 461 | 8.4 | 13,008 | 14.8 | 329 |
| Thames Valley | 14.3 | 35,959 | 10.5 | 3,280 | 27.3 | 2,546 | 16.1 | 1,410 | 11.1 | 21,828 | 5.7 | 277 |
| Warwickshire | 7.1 | 4,242 | 4.0 | 150 | 12.7 | 102 | 6.6 | 89 | 4.3 | 2,273 | 3.1 | 19 |
| West Mercia | 8.6 | 11,133 | 10.7 | 377 | 9.9 | 111 | 5.5 | 120 | 6.2 | 7,609 | 4.6 | 34 |
| West Midlands | 11.9 | 34,838 | 10.2 | 6,810 | 19.2 | 4,522 | 19.5 | 2,372 | 10.5 | 18,895 | 7.5 | 756 |
| West Yorkshire | 15.8 | 37,269 | 14.6 | 5,450 | 25.2 | 1,822 | 23.0 | 1,492 | 14.5 | 26,158 | 10.1 | 407 |
| Wiltshire | 8.7 | 6,437 | 5.1 | 195 | 23.0 | 274 | 15.3 | 233 | 8.0 | 5,401 | 5.1 | 36 |
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 in 38 out of 42 police forces
- in Dorset, black people were 8.1 times as likely to be arrested as white people – the biggest difference in arrest rate out of all police force areas
- in 9 police force areas, Asian people had a higher arrest rate than white people
- in 36 police force areas, the mixed ethnic group had a higher arrest rate than the white ethnic group
- in the Metropolitan Police area, people in the Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups made up 56% of arrests – the highest percentage out of all police force areas
- differences in arrest rates between areas may reflect population differences in those areas – for example, more people from the Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups live in London than in North Wales
- in the Metropolitan Police area, there were 10.2 arrests for every 1,000 people from ethnic minority groups, compared with 7.0 arrests for every 1,000 white people
- Cleveland had the highest overall arrest rate, at 20.5 arrests for every 1,000 people
- Dorset (6.7 arrests for every 1,000 people) and Warwickshire (7.1 arrests) had the lowest overall arrest rates
6. 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 | 11.2 | 668,979 | 3.3 | 100,709 | 19.4 | 566,179 |
| Asian | 8.4 | 46,396 | 1.3 | 3,660 | 15.7 | 42,573 |
| Bangladeshi | 8.7 | 5,581 | 1.3 | 410 | 15.9 | 5,147 |
| Chinese | 2.8 | 1,240 | 1.2 | 283 | 4.8 | 951 |
| Indian | 4.5 | 8,435 | 0.7 | 699 | 8.3 | 7,695 |
| Pakistani | 11.3 | 17,984 | 1.6 | 1,226 | 20.9 | 16,695 |
| Asian other | 13.5 | 13,156 | 2.0 | 1,042 | 26.5 | 12,085 |
| Black | 20.4 | 49,243 | 4.3 | 5,413 | 38.2 | 43,677 |
| Black African | 13.1 | 19,465 | 2.6 | 2,030 | 24.5 | 17,362 |
| Black Caribbean | 22.7 | 14,164 | 4.9 | 1,660 | 43.6 | 12,468 |
| Black other | 52.4 | 15,614 | 11.5 | 1,723 | 93.5 | 13,847 |
| Mixed | 12.5 | 21,555 | 3.6 | 3,196 | 21.7 | 18,295 |
| Mixed White and Asian | 5.0 | 2,421 | 1.3 | 325 | 8.6 | 2,088 |
| Mixed White and Black African | 10.4 | 2,597 | 2.9 | 369 | 18.1 | 2,216 |
| Mixed White and Black Caribbean | 18.0 | 9,213 | 5.3 | 1,379 | 31.1 | 7,816 |
| Mixed other | 15.7 | 7,324 | 4.6 | 1,123 | 27.5 | 6,175 |
| White | 9.4 | 456,393 | 3.0 | 74,595 | 16.0 | 381,010 |
| White British | 9.2 | 405,964 | 3.0 | 67,403 | 15.5 | 337,957 |
| Gypsy or Irish Traveller | 17.2 | 1,165 | 6.4 | 218 | 27.9 | 944 |
| White Irish | 10.7 | 5,441 | 3.4 | 896 | 18.6 | 4,531 |
| Roma | 0.1 | 8 | 0.2 | 8 | 0.0 | 0 |
| White other | 11.9 | 43,815 | 3.1 | 6,070 | 21.9 | 37,578 |
| Other | 8.5 | 10,656 | 1.7 | 1,050 | 15.0 | 9,553 |
| Arab | 4.8 | 1,605 | 0.5 | 77 | 8.6 | 1,520 |
| Any Other Ethnic Background | 9.8 | 9,051 | 2.1 | 973 | 17.4 | 8,033 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 84,736 | N/A* | 12,795 | N/A* | 71,071 |
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 19.4 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 3.3 for every 1,000 women
- black men were 2.4 times as likely to be arrested as white men – there were 38.2 arrests for every 1,000 black men, and 16.0 for every 1,000 white men
- black women were 1.4 times as likely to be arrested as white women – there were 4.3 arrests for every 1,000 black women, and 3.0 for every 1,000 white women
- Asian men were 12 times as likely to be arrested as Asian women – there were 15.7 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 1.3 for every 1,000 women
7. Data sources
Source
Police powers and procedures: England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2023 (second edition)
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 make the police more accountable by enabling the public to monitor them locally and nationally.
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.
8. 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