Stalking and harassment 424/2025

FOI Reference: 424/2025

Request

1. The total number of stalking and harassment offences cases your police force has dealt with per financial year, for the past five years. Please display the total case numbers for stalking and harassment separately. 
2. The total number of stalking and harassment cases in which a physical tracking device was used. This can include an AirTag, SmartTag, Tile, GPS tracker, car tracker. Please display the total case numbers for stalking and harassment separately, and provide this information per financial year, for the past five years.
3. The total number of stalking and harassment offences in which a digital tracking device was used. This can include a social media tracker, Life360, phone App tracker. Please display the total case numbers for stalking and harassment separately, and provide this information per financial year, for the past five years.
4. The total number of controlling / coercive behaviour cases your police for has dealt with per financial year, for the past five years. 
5. The total number of controlling / coercive behaviour cases in which a physical tracking device was used. This can include an AirTag, SmartTag, Tile, GPS tracker, car tracker. Please provide this information per financial year, for the past five years.
6. The total number of controlling / coercive behaviour cases in which a digital tracking device was used. This can include a social media tracker, Life360, phone App tracker. 

Please provide this information per financial year, for the past five years.

Response

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1) (a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1) (b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.

Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Dyfed Powys Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:   (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information you have requested. However, we are withholding the whole of the requested information since we consider that the Section 12(1) exemption the Cost of Compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit applies to it.

Section 12 (1) – The cost of compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit

Section 12(1) states: “…Section 1 (1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.”

The cost of providing you with the information requested in respect of your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the “appropriate level” as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. It is estimated that it would exceed 18 hours (i.e. minimum of 4,560 hours) to comply with this part of your request. The regulations can be located @ https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244

The Freedom of Information department has been advised that some of the information in respect of Q2 of your request is not held in an easily retrievable format. In light of this and in order to accurately obtain the information relative to your request for the time frame stipulated it would involve Dyfed Powys Police accessing and manually reviewing 27,359 records, due to the fact that we would have to conduct a manual review of all records mentioned below in Q1 response, to identify the information needed for Q2 and Q3 as there are no relevant search filters / fields.

It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 10 minutes to review and obtain the information for a single record in respect of your request.

The process outlined results in the below time estimate.

Stalking total = 5,273 records

Harassment total = 22,086 records

Total = 27,359 records x 10 minutes per record = 4,560 hours

Time estimate to complete task = 4,560 hours

In accordance therefore with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for the Whole of this request under Section 17(5) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is relying on a claim that section 12 or section 14 applies must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating that fact.

You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the time shown above to fall within the 18 hours, should you require any further advice in relation to this matter please don’t hesitate to contact the Freedom of Information Unit. Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the public authorities right to cite exemptions if relevant.

Although excess cost removes the forces obligations under the Freedom of Information Act to provide any further information, as a gesture of goodwill, I have provided information, relative to question 1 of your request which has been easily retrievable and outlined below. I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the remainder of your request.

Response Q1

Stalking:

Year          No. of Records

2020    –    759

2021    –    1216

2022    –    1252

2023    –    972

2024    –    1074

Total    –    5273

Harassment:

2020    –    2909

2021    –    5013

2022    –    5217

2023    –    4561

2024    –    4386

Total    –   22086

Q4

This is retrievable within the 18 hours.

Q5 – Q6

This would likely to exceed the 18 hours time estimate.

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.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 24/04/2025)