Stalking data - 735/2021

Request:

 

Please can you answer the below questions for the following time period: 20/01/20 to 31/08/21.

1) How many reports of stalking did your police force record over the requested period?

2) How many individuals were charged with the offence of stalking over the requested period?

3) How many individuals alleged to have stalked someone were released after questioning as your force decided 'no further action' should be taken in light of the (lack of) evidence?

4) While your force was investigating a stalking case, how many individuals reported to have been 'stalkers' were released under investigation? 4a) How many were released on bail? 

 

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.

 

Dyfed-Powys Police are unable to confirm or not whether we hold information relevant to your request, since we consider that the Section 12(2) exemption the Cost of Compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit applies to it.

 

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.

 

Section 12(2) – The cost of compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit

 

Section 12(2) states: “…Subsection (1) does not exempt the public authority from its obligation to comply with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) unless the estimated cost of complying with that paragraph alone 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 18.85 hours) to comply with this part of your request. The regulations can be located @

 

www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2004/20043244.htm

 

The Freedom of Information Unit has been advised by the relevant department that in order to establish what information, if any, is recorded in relation to Question 4 and 4a would exceed the appropriate time limit i.e. 18 hours. This is due to the fact that the information requested is not specifically recorded on force systems therefore in order to establish if and when the suspect had been released on bail or released under investigation or in some instances both, would require an individual interrogation of all records during the specified timescale.

It has been established that there is a total of 377 records that would require individual interrogation and it has been estimated that it would take a minimum of 3 minutes to research each individual record the relevant time estimate is detailed below:

 

• 20/01/2021- 31/08/2021 = 377 records x 3 minutes = 18.85 hours

 

In accordance 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 me.

 

Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the Force’s right to cite exemptions if relevant.

 

Although excess cost removed the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill, I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved or available before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded. 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.

 

Question 1 response:

 

Timescale	Total number of stalking reports received
20/01/20 to 31/08/21.	1,500

  

Question 2 response:

 

Timescale	Total number of individuals charged with the offence of stalking
20/01/20 to 31/08/21.	47

 

 Question 3 response:

 

Timescale	Total number of individuals charged released under “no further action”
20/01/20 to 31/08/21.	61*

 

• *Please note, 61 were finalised as outcome 15) Victim supports action but evidential difficulties.

 

Please note, the above relates to all crimes and incident recorded and reported as domestic related. In order to check which of these have a “domestic abuse flag” added would be a further time estimate as all these crimes and incidents would need to be individually checked to ascertain whether or not they are relevant to the request.

 

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.