Disaster Victim Identification 861/2025

FOI Reference: 861/2025

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information relating to Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) provision within your force.

Where possible, please provide total counts disaggregated by gender where this information is recorded. I generally expect yes/no responses, but any additional context would be gratefully appreciated.

 Staffing and Deployment

1. The number of officers/staff currently trained in DVI within your force (please indicate gender if recorded).
2. The number of DVI-trained officers/staff deployed in the last five years, and the categories of incidents they were deployed to (please group as: terrorism, transport incidents, industrial accidents, and natural disasters) - total numbers only, to preserve anonymity.
3. Which department or unit within the force is responsible for DVI planning and deployment.
4. The typical length of service an officer/staff member remains active on the DVI roster once trained (e.g., average number of years, or whether there is a set term).
5. Whether your force applies any suitability checks or criteria prior to deployment of DVI-trained officers (e.g., health, psychological readiness, or operational availability).

Response Q1

Section 31(1)(a)(b) Law Enforcement:

(1) Information which is not exempt information by virtue of section 30 is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to prejudice -

(a) the prevention or detection of crime

(b) the apprehension or prosecution of offenders

Section 31 is a prejudice based qualified exemption and as such there is a requirement to provide details of the harm as well as the public interest test.

The Harm Test process requires Dyfed-Powys Police to consider any possible harm that might arise as a result of placing the requested information into the public domain.  This process considers the potential harm to:

• Individuals
• The community as a whole
• Dyfed-Powys Police and the wider policing service
• Other bodies

Evidence of Harm:

DVI is a specialism held by police forces across the country in numbers sufficient that in the event of a disaster on the largest scale that sufficient DVI trained personnel can respond.  However, to release details of the exact number of officers trained in DVI in a force-by-force manner would not only reveal individual force capability, but it would also create a mosaic effect across the country showing areas of capability and, more pertinently, potential vulnerability.  It should be remembered that a release of information under FOI is not a private transaction, it is a disclosure to the world. It is known that criminals and those with criminal intent routinely monitor information made publicly available under FOI, consequently, for those that would seek to commit criminal acts, revealing the areas of capability and vulnerability could then be used to gain an advantage resulting in further criminal activity which places the public at increased risk.

Public Interest test

Factors favouring disclosure:

Disclosure of this information would adhere to the basic principle of being open and transparent and would provide better awareness which may in turn reassure the public.

Factors favouring non-disclosure:

Where the current or future law enforcement role of the police may be compromised by the release of information, the effectiveness of the police service will be reduced. Providing the requested information would allow those who seek to commit criminal acts the ability to understand operational capabilities of police forces. This would undermine police resources in their primary function of law enforcement and public protection, ultimately putting the public at risk. Any disclosure of information which would undermine the Police service’s ability to serve the public and protect them from harm is not in the public interest to disclose.

Balance Test - The Police Service is charged with enforcing the law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities we serve.  In order to effectively and robustly carry out those duties, external services are utilised which are vital to investigating criminal activity. Weakening the mechanisms used to investigate any type of criminal activity would have a detrimental impact on law enforcement as a whole. Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of policing operations and providing assurance that the police service is appropriately and effectively engaging with the threat posed by various groups or individuals, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of police investigations and operations in the highly sensitive areas such as extremism, crime prevention, public disorder and terrorism prevention.

As release of information will highlight operational methodology that in turn will provide criminals with counter measures the decision must be made not to release the information sought regarding DVI.  Therefore, at this moment in time, it is our opinion that the balance test favours against disclosure.

Response Q2

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

Since February 2025,  DVI officers/staff have attended 12 incidents, ranging from transport, industrial and natural.

We do not have capacity to provide total numbers of DVI who attended those incidents.

However, in the last 5 years all team members would have been deployed to at least one incident as part of their professional development.

Response Q3

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

DVI – Disaster Victim Identification sits within the CID – Criminal Investigation Department.

Response Q4

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does not hold the information requested.

Response Q5

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

All DVI staff undertake annual and mandatory Occupational Health checks.

All DVI staff must be operationally deployable.

All DVI staff are offered a trauma risk management assessment following their attendance at scenes.

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 01/10/2025)