Abandoned babies 941/2024

FOI Reference: 941/2024

Request:

This request relates to cases of abandoned babies (infants under the age of 2) that have been investigated by your force over the last decade. Please include babies that have been found dead and alive.

1. Please state the number of cases of infant abandonment that have been investigated by your force in each of the following years: a) 2015, b) 2016, c) 2017, d) 2018, e) 2019, f) 2020, g) 2021, h) 2022, i) 2023, j) 2024 so far.

2. If possible, for each case please provide the following information:

a) Was the infant found dead or alive?

b) What was the estimated age of the infant when discovered (in weeks/months)?

c) In what type of location was the infant found? (I.e., park / public toilet / hospital, rather than address)

If it is not possible to answer questions 2b and 2c, I would be grateful if you could respond with answers to questions 1 and 2a only.

Response:

 I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.

There have been 0 cases of abandoned babies (infants under the age of 2) since 2015.                                               

It should be noted that as a result of the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such information that the information released may or may not be accurate.

Furthermore, it should also be noted that Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the crime data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force's response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 11/10/2024)