Cuckooing 724/2024

FOI Reference: 724/2024

Request:

Please could you provide me with the following figures for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 (January - end of June 2024). (If you do not collect or cannot provide data for one of the categories below, please provide data for the categories that you do or can provide data for): 

1) How many people has the force identified as victims of ‘cuckooing’ i.e. the practice of taking over the home of an individual in order to establish a base for the purpose of criminal activity? 

2) Of those people identified as victims of cuckooing how many were: 

a) Male

b) Female 

c) Under 18 years of age 

d) Over 65 years of age 

e) Dependant on drugs or alcohol 

f) Disabled or learning disabled 

g) Unemployed 

h) Diagnosed with a mental illness 

i) Specify the reason behind the cuckooing (e.g. drug dealing, sex work, taking over the property as a place to live, financial abuse, supplying arms) 

3) Of those people identified as victims of cuckooing how many have been: 

a) Arrested, and 

b) Charged with criminal offences related to the activities taking place in their property (specify what they were charged with) 

4) How many people has the force identified as perpetrators of ‘cuckooing’? 

Of those identified as perpetrators of ‘cuckooing’ how many have been 

a) Arrested, and 

b) Charged with criminal offences related to the cuckooing activity? (specify what they were charged with)

 

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

Response:

1)     18 potential victims via intelligence

Of the 18 potential victims identified – 15 were in 2022, 1 in 2023 and 2 in 2024.

2)     From the 18 potential victims identified via intelligence only 2  were deemed to be actual victims after further investigations. We have limited information on these victims.         

Total number of victims=2 male victims. Both in 2022           

Additional information.

1 victim was under 18

Information relating to victim’s dependency on drugs/alcohol, disability and mental illness have not been reported

3)     2 victims were not arrested or charged   

2 offenders identified (2022)

Both suspects have since been charged and convicted of Drugs supply offences.

 

Additionally, Dyfed-Powys Police can neither confirm nor deny that it holds any other information relevant to this request, as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of:

Section 23(5) Information Supplied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.

Section 23 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case.  Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.                                                                          

                                                           

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 12/08/2024)