Gold and jewellery theft 256/2025

FOI Reference: 256/2025

Request

1) The number of jewellery thefts reported each month from January 2020 to December 2024.

2) The number of thefts involving gold items/products (including gold jewellery) reported each month from January 2020 to December 2024.

3) A breakdown of stolen gold items by category, showing the total number reported stolen each month for the following: Gold bars, Gold coins, Gold jewellery, Other gold items (please specify if possible).

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 3,656 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 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 manually reviewing 21,939 records.  This is due to the fact that we would have to manually review all theft offences to identify those related to jewellery theft as there are no relevant filters.

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.

2020 – 3,655 records

2021 – 3,910 records

2022 – 4,827 records

2023 – 4,882 records

2024 – 4,665 records

Total records = 21,939 records

21,939 x 10 mins =  3,656.5 hours

Time estimate to complete task = 3,656 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.

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 17/03/2025)