Hertfordshire Constabulary recorded 32 stop and searches in central Watford in June, leading to seven arrests.

Police have the right to stop and search someone if they believe they have "reasonable grounds" to suspect you are carrying illegal drugs, a weapon, stolen property, or something which could be used to commit a crime, such as a crowbar.

Data on who is stopped and where is mapped by police.uk and made available to the public.

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In June, within the 'central Watford' boundary, 15 stop and searches were carried out with the aim of finding ‘articles for use in theft’, nine were made for controlled drugs, five for offensive weapons, two for stolen goods, and one for psychoactive substances.

Of these, eight resulted in action being taken including seven arrests.

One man, aged 18 to 24, was arrested in Raphael Drive at 9.49pm on June 11 after a search for controlled drugs which required "removal of more than just outer clothing".

Another search for drugs, of a man aged 18 to 24 and his vehicle, on Francis Road, was dealt with without formal sanctions through ‘community resolution’ at 12.35am on June 2.

A 25 to 34-year-old man was arrested in the high street after a search for stolen goods at 5.05pm on June 16.

Items termed “articles for use in theft” by police data were the most common reason for arrests that month.

Arrests were logged near Sainsbury’s on June 22, in Watford house Lane on June 6, in Bridge Place on June 6, and in the high street on June 16.

A man was also arrested after a search to find "articles for use in theft", near Bentine Lane just before midnight on June 15, but the arrest was not recorded as linked to the object of the search.

The data for June is the latest available, June had slightly more stop and searches than the average of 28 per month for 2022.

130 searches carried out in June across Hertfordshire could not be mapped and were not included in the police.uk data.

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