The number of cautions and cannabis warnings recorded by the police in England and Wales as a method of detection for possession of cannabis offences are given in Tables 1 and 2 respectively.
Police force area 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 345 504 563 616 616 Bedfordshire 35 45 55 162 215 British Transport Police 775 1,009 975 752 737 Cambridgeshire 192 269 243 267 273 Cheshire 353 389 148 240 188 Cleveland 248 294 308 263 336 Cumbria 216 194 184 212 168 Derbyshire 131 259 162 247 265 Devon and Cornwall 468 630 404 466 442 Dorset 259 260 249 218 199 Durham 116 149 141 139 154 Dyfed-Powys 467 438 406 337 286 Essex 367 443 498 696 814 Gloucestershire 181 213 180 220 312 Greater Manchester 1,013 1,341 1,067 1,285 1,213 Gwent 437 316 347 324 324 Hampshire 824 550 405 617 556 Hertfordshire 253 302 281 434 567 Humberside 314 389 272 252 222 Kent 443 524 454 637 557 Lancashire 651 782 701 832 780 Leicestershire 479 512 320 276 276 Lincolnshire 184 135 133 133 141 London, City of 78 133 147 142 81 Merseyside 1,786 1,003 529 1,125 1,451 Metropolitan Police 17,841 5,071 4,929 4,458 4,643 Norfolk 241 200 276 255 223 Northamptonshire 384 384 390 329 205 Northumbria1 1,045 1,019 592 398 346 North Wales 351 324 219 333 357 North Yorkshire 29 23 36 124 124 Nottinghamshire 279 604 535 631 542 South Wales 433 376 275 340 405 South Yorkshire 395 452 582 630 610 Staffordshire 445 493 507 473 342 Suffolk 245 857 216 221 252 Surrey 468 440 371 424 395 Sussex 559 884 865 1,076 672 Thames Valley 1,191 1,618 1,303 1,401 1,444 Warwickshire 122 220 292 297 269 West Mercia 466 481 443 401 423 West Midlands 1,343 1,797 1,784 1,964 2,165 West Yorkshire 1,064 1,036 723 621 556 Wiltshire 222 191 147 120 200 England and Wales 37,738 27,553 23,657 25,388 25,346
Police force area 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-091 Avon and Somerset 977 2,578 3,600 2,554 2,598 Bedfordshire 603 643 324 289 347 British Transport Police 659 203 430 1,707 3,214 Cambridgeshire 349 492 956 1,594 1,257 Cheshire 311 393 532 757 1,109 Cleveland 120 192 331 686 851 Cumbria 272 244 231 218 272 Derbyshire 665 513 497 520 600 Devon and Cornwall 1,956 1,532 1,473 1,380 1,571 Dorset 369 340 348 393 349 Durham 252 207 257 256 333 Dyfed-Powys 917 799 887 882 794 Essex 556 697 722 1,348 1,597 Gloucestershire 371 395 419 459 529 Greater Manchester 1,751 3,235 4,943 5,311 5,136 Gwent 159 396 646 757 998 Hampshire 698 1,113 1,477 2,260 1,943 Hertfordshire 258 488 1,394 1,485 1,897 Humberside 32 149 533 895 991 Kent 198 497 652 846 1,276 Lancashire 390 237 210 528 791 Leicestershire 154 978 1,555 1,967 1,701 Lincolnshire 79 473 543 508 491 London City of 505 682 373 436 506 Merseyside 961 8,561 7,204 7,229 8,114 Metropolitan Police 13,160 21,040 30,554 46,979 47,204 Norfolk 486 638 731 786 751 Northamptonshire 120 111 206 311 439 Northumbria2 n/a n/a 761 916 1,459 North Wales 543 799 971 985 1,059 North Yorkshire 727 655 554 701 665 Nottinghamshire 529 855 1,077 1,210 950 South Wales 520 536 1,266 2,414 2,220 South Yorkshire 560 1,023 1,027 1,296 1,627 Staffordshire 867 1,323 1,282 1,150 1,153 Suffolk 600 64 573 599 744 Surrey 523 482 754 993 811 Sussex 866 1,350 1,971 2,447 1,369 Thames Valley 2,232 1,883 2,431 2,753 2,518 Warwickshire 340 418 650 399 342 West Mercia 572 582 686 756 872 West Midlands 2,025 3,451 2,852 2,286 2,229 West Yorkshire 1,212 1,839 1,539 1,340 1,245 Wiltshire 274 394 231 218 329 England and Wales 39,718 63,480 80,653 103,804 107,251 n/a= Not available 1. Since 26 January 2009, Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) can be given for cannabis possession. Up to the end of March 2009 such PNDs were counted together with cannabis warnings. 2 Northumbria Police have advised that their IT Data Capture System was unable to separately identify cannabis warnings during 2004-05 and 2005-06 and that for these two years their cautions data have been inflated by what are now counted as cannabis warnings.