Domestic abuse misconduct 466/2022
FOI Reference: 466/2022
Request:
For questions 1-7, please provide answers by calendar year using numbers not percentages.
1. How many allegations of domestic abuse have been received against police officers, PCSOs and special constables from January 2019 to April 2022?
2. How many police officers, PCSOs and special constables were charged with domestic abuse related offences from January 2019 to April 2022?
3. How many police officers, PCSOs and special constables were convicted of domestic abuse related offences from January 2019 to April 2022?
4.How many police officers, PCSOs and special constables were subject to misconduct investigations for domestic abuse related offences from January 2019 to April 2022?
5.How many police officer, PCSOs and special constables were disciplined (e.g., management advice/action, warnings, and reprimands) for domestic abuse related offences from January 2019 to April 2022?
6.How many police officers, PCSOs and special constables were dismissed for domestic abuse related offences from January 2019 to April 2022?
7.How many police officers, PCSOs and special constables resigned, retired, or left for other reasons, following allegations of domestic abuse related offences from January 2019 to April 2022?
8. Does your force have policies and procedures specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse?
a) Yes
b) No
9. If you answered yes to question 8, has your force updated those policies and procedures since September 2020?
a) Yes
b) No
10. If you answered yes to question 9, please provide details of updates (e.g., appointment of investigating officer not known to suspect).
11. Does your force deliver training specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse?
a) Yes
b) No
12. If you answered yes to question 11, has training been introduced since September 2020?
a) Yes
b) No
13. Is training
a) Mandatory
b) Voluntary
Clarification requested:
- Do you wish to know the number of police officers, PCSO’s and Special Constables found guilty at court for domestic related offences?
- Do you wish to know the full result for each case or just whether the person was found guilty?
- As a conditional caution and a caution can also be classed as a conviction, do you wish to have this information also?
Clarification received:
1) If you have information on the number of police officers, PCSO's and special constables receiving court convictions please supply
2) It is sufficient to just know that an individual was found guilty
3) Please supply information on conditional cautions and cautions, if you are able to, could you please keep these figures separate from court convictions
Response 1 and 2:
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 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.
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 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 9,590 hours) to comply with this part of your request. The regulations can be located @
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2004/20043244.htm
The Freedom of Information Unit has been advised that the information requested in relation to your request regarding allegations of domestic abuse being received against Police officers, PCSO’s and Special officers from January 2019 and April 2022 alone is not held in an easily retrievable format and would exceed the appropriate time limit, i.e. 18 hours, to retrieve.
This is due to the fact that for the information you are requesting, individual review of each domestic report made would be required to established if it involved a Police officer, PCSO or Special Constable. There are 32,892 records that would require review for the time period given.
In relation to question’s 2 and 3 regarding charges and convictions, this information is not held in an easily retrievable format as ‘Occupation’ is not a mandatory field. In order to provide the required information, each domestic offence record would need to be individually reviewed. There are 24,649 records that would require review for the time period given.
In order to do this, it is estimated it would take approximately 10 minutes to review each record, of which there are 32,892 in relation to question 1 and 24,649 for question 2 & 3 for the time period given.
The relevant time estimate is detailed below:
Q1 - 32,892 records x 10 minutes = 5,482 hours
Q 2&3 - 24,649 crimes x 10 minutes = 4,108 hours
Therefore, total time estimate to complete request = 9,590 hours
Questions 3 - 13:
The relevant department’s have advised that a response can be provided within the appropriate time limit, i.e. 18 hours. Further exemptions may apply.
In accordance 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 me.
Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the Force’s right to cite exemptions if relevant.
This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 18th October 2022.