Handbag thefts 110/2024

FOI Reference: 110/2024

Request:

1) Please can you state for theft offences recorded by your force, the number in which the crime report text (described as modus operandi reports by many forces) contains a mention of "handbag" in each of the following calendar years: 

• 2019
• 2020
• 2021
• 2022
• 2023

2) Please can you provide a redacted copy of the free text crime reports for these offences recorded by your force between October and December 2023.

Clarification:

Q - Would you like a summary of the crime report or a full redacted copy of the investigation log?

A - Can you provide me with a summary of the crime report please.

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.

I can confirm that the cost of determining whether any information relative to this request is or isn’t held is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond therefore we are withholding the whole of the requested information 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. The following exemption has been applied to the whole of the information you have requested:

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 determining what information is held, if any, relevant to 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 236 hours) to comply with 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, due to a change in recording systems, not all of the information in respect of your request is 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 manually reviewing all theft crimes post 12/05/2023.

It has been established that post 12/05/2023 there were a total of 2826 theft crime records that would need to be manually reviewed for the word ‘handbag’.  It has also been established that it would take a minimum of 5 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.

2826 offences x 5 minutes = 236 hours

Time estimate to complete task = 236 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.

2019	2020	2021	2022	2023 (up to 12/05/23)
6	0	1	0	0

                                                                                                           

It should be noted that owing to the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such matters the information provided may or may not be accurate.

Police Forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recoding criteria is set nationally.  However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the 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 27/03/24)