Upskirting 416/23
FOI Reference: 416/2023
Request:
- How many allegations of upskirting were made to your force between 2016 – 2018? Please provide the data on an annual basis
- How many allegations of upskirting were made to your force from 2019-2022? Please provide the data on an annual basis
- How many people were charged with upskirting by your force from 2019-2022? Please provide the data on an annual basis
- How many charges of upskirting were made by your force from 2019 – 2022? Please provide the data on an annual basis
- Of the people you charged with upskirting from your 2019-2022, how many individuals were also charged with other sexual offences?
- Of the people who were charged with upskirting offences from 2019-2022 and were also charged with other sexual offences, please list the special sexual offences which they were also charged with
- Of the people who were charged with upskirting offences from 2019-2022, how many were under the age of 18?
- Of the people who reported that they have been a victim of upskirting since the 12th April 2019, how many have been under the age of 18? Please list their ages
- Of the people who reported that they had been a victim of upskirting since the 12th April 2019, how many were under the age of 10? Please list their ages
- Have you received any allegations of people who have experienced ‘down-blousing’ – photos taken down someone’s top without their consent. If so, how many people have made allegations about this?
Clarification:
Clarification was sought from the applicant it was confirmed that the above request relates to crimes.
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 101.99 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 department has been advised that the information in respect 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 would involve Dyfed Powys Police accessing and reviewing all crime records under the umbrella category of exposure of voyeurism to ascertain if the crime record relates to either upskirting or down blousing. It has been established that there are a total of 612 crime records that cover the period of your request. It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 10 minutes to review and obtain the information for a single crime record in respect of your request (as outlined above). The process outlined results in the below time estimate.
|
2016 |
= |
62 |
crime records at 10 mins per record = |
10.33 |
hours |
|
2017 |
= |
80 |
crime records at 10 mins per record = |
13.33 |
hours |
|
2018 |
= |
74 |
crime records at 10 mins per record = |
12.33 |
hours |
|
2019 |
= |
79 |
crime records at 10 mins per record = |
13.17 |
hours |
|
2020 |
= |
83 |
crime records at 10 mins per record = |
13.83 |
hours |
|
2021 |
= |
106 |
crime records at 10 mins per record = |
17.67 |
hours |
|
2022 |
= |
128 |
crime records at 10 mins per record = |
21.33 |
hours |
Time estimate to complete task = 101.99 hours
Please note: The Freedom of Information Unit has been advised that from 2020 onward there was a specific category created for crimes relating to upskirting. This information is retrievable under the 18 hour time limit, however, we have been advised that the information under this category may not be wholly accurate as it is likely that crimes relating upskirting post/after 2020 have still been recorded under the umbrella category of exposure and voyeurism.
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.
(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 25/07/23)