Specialist police units 1227/2025

FOI Reference: 1227/2025

Request:

As of the 14th of December 2025, please tell me:

1) The total number of specialist police units within your force (e.g., firearms, roads policing, cybercrime, homicide, public order etc) as formally listed in force organisational charts.

2) For each unit, please tell me the number of officers currently assigned.

3) For each unit, please tell me the number of officers required for the unit to be considered fully operational (as recorded by the force in risk registers, HMICFRS assessments and staffing targets - state what this level is for all three).

Clarification:

Clarification was sought from the applicant and an organisational structure provided.  The following response was received:

Hello, I mean dedicated teams with unique/specialist skills and knowledge for specific complex crimes (like cybercrime, counter-terrorism, child sexual exploitation) or operations (like firearms, public order, underwater search)

I don't know what everything in blue in your organisational chart means (things like 'criminal justice' is extremely vague) and other category sections such as 'reception mailroom' don't apply to my definition because they do not have to do with operational policing. So, to stay within the cost limit, could you please answer the question for major crime, forensics/SSU, SOC/DCCU/DSHU (can you spell out what all acronyms stand for in your response), firearms licensing, spec crime/CID, vehicle recovery, FIB/CAB, JFU/firearms and RPU.

Response 1 – 3

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, however a Section 31(1)(a)(b) Law Enforcement exemption has been applied to some of the requested information thereby exempting its release.

Explanation of the applied exemption:

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 FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which:

a) States that fact

b) Specifies the exemption(s) in question and

c) State (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies

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.

Harm in Disclosure

Under the Act, we cannot, and do not request the motives of any application for information.  We have no doubt that the vast majority of requests made under the Act are legitimate and the applicants do not have any ulterior motives. However, in disclosing information to one applicant, we are expressing a willingness to provide it to anyone in the world. This means that a disclosure to a genuinely interested and concerned person automatically opens it up for a similar disclosure, including those who would use the information to gain an advantage over our ability to exercise our core function, which is Law Enforcement.

In considering whether or not this information should be disclosed, consideration has been given to the potential harm that could be caused by disclosure. The police service is charged with enforcing the law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities we serve. The general public are also aware that modern day policing is intelligence led and that there are changes on a day to day basis. Disclosure of information in respect of the numbers of officers in some specialist departments and the total number of officers needed for a department to be considered as fully operational would be of interest to those individual intent on criminal activity. Disclosure of this information would provide criminals with a tactical advantage by revealing operational strength and capabilities, which in turn could be utilised to identify perceived areas of weakness for example where departmental numbers fall short of the numbers outlined for the department to be classed as fully operational.  As a result of this more crime could be committed which in turn would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. In addition, this would also potentially place officer’s safety and the general public at risk by affecting our ability to fulfil our core function of law enforcement.

Public Interest Test:

Section 31 - Considerations favouring disclosure:

The public have a right to know how  public funds are being utilised and that there are sufficient departmental resources to reinforce that they are being protected in an appropriate and diligent manner. Disclosure of information that relates directly to the operational effectiveness and capacity of departments within the force would aid this.

Section 31 - Considerations favouring non-disclosure:

Factors favouring non-disclosure would be that it would reveal operational strength and capabilities at both departmental and force level which could result in more crime being committed.  This would have an impact on police resources and would hinder the prevention or detection of crime and negatively impact public safety by place individuals at risk. Which in turn would significantly affect the Forces ability to fulfil our core function of law enforcement.

Balance Test

After considering the advantages and disadvantages in disclosure relating to the details of covert vehicles, it falls upon Dyfed-Powys Police to conduct a balance test on the issues. The strongest arguments for release, which is better awareness, needs to be weighed against the strongest argument for non-release, which in this case is effective law enforcement. The Police Service is tasked with the prevention and detection of crime and protecting the public.  Whilst there is a public interest in this subject there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the operational resources and capacity of certain departments within the force and to protect the ability to fulfil  our core function of law enforcement. Therefore, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 23/02/2026)