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Metropolitan Police Service — Stop and Search

Stop-and-search activity for Metropolitan Police Service over the last 12 months. Data from data.police.uk.

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Latest reported month: May 2026

Stops recorded

12,004

Arrest rate

17.9%

share leading to arrest

Most searched for

  • Controlled drugs6,899
  • Stolen goods2,423
  • Offensive weapons1,942
  • Evidence of offences under the Act450
  • Anything to threaten or harm anyone102
  • Firearms57

Outcomes

  • A no further action disposal7,964
  • Arrest2,145
  • Community resolution1,378
  • Penalty Notice for Disorder260
  • Summons / charged by post156
  • Caution (simple or conditional)92

Ethnicity composition of stops

  • Black4,970 (41.4%)
  • White4,072 (33.9%)
  • Asian1,914 (15.9%)
  • Not stated1,048 (8.7%)
These percentages are the composition of stops, not a population-adjusted disparity ratio. Arrest rate is a consistently-recorded outcome; other outcomes are recorded unevenly. Compare Metropolitan Police Service against every other force in the stop & search explorer.

Source: data.police.uk stop & search (Open Government Licence v3.0), May 2026.

Stops, last 12 months

118,649

Arrest rate

17.5%

share leading to arrest

Months

12

Monthly trend

MonthStopsArrest rate
2025-0510,68817.4%
2025-0610,66318.3%
2025-0711,25418.7%
2025-0814,89915.4%
2025-0911,15118.0%
2025-1011,74917.1%
2025-1112,35517.3%
2025-1211,86117.4%
2026-0112,29518.4%
2026-0211,73418.0%
2026-0300.0%
2026-0400.0%

Top objects of search

  • Controlled drugs69,177
  • Stolen goods24,399
  • Offensive weapons15,646
  • Evidence of offences under the Act4,325
  • Anything to threaten or harm anyone2,768
  • (unknown)728

Top outcomes

  • A no further action disposal78,946
  • Arrest20,817
  • Community resolution13,439
  • Penalty Notice for Disorder2,940
  • Summons / charged by post1,438
  • Caution (simple or conditional)1,047

By self-defined ethnicity

  • Other ethnic group - Not stated35,045 (29.5%)
  • White - English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British18,769 (15.8%)
  • Black/African/Caribbean/Black British - Any other Black/African/Caribbean background13,010 (11.0%)
  • Black/African/Caribbean/Black British - African10,133 (8.5%)
  • White - Any other White background9,838 (8.3%)
  • Black/African/Caribbean/Black British - Caribbean6,210 (5.2%)
  • Asian/Asian British - Any other Asian background5,550 (4.7%)
  • Other ethnic group - Any other ethnic group3,006 (2.5%)

Ethnicity figures are subject-recorded under PACE Code A. Population context is essential for any disparity analysis — see Use-of-Force Disparities for force-level context.

Source: data.police.uk · Licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0 · Fetched 2026-06-27.