FOI 1103-2023 / Dec 2023 / Mobile phone thefts
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 1103-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 4th December 2023 as follows:
My enquiry concerns the statistics on mobile phone thefts within your jurisdiction over the following periods:
November 2021 – November 2022
November 2022 – November 2023
Specifically, I would like to request the following details:
Q1. The total number of mobile phones reported stolen in each of the specified time frames.
Q2. A breakdown of these incidents by location. Ideally, this would include the specific areas or neighbourhoods where these thefts were most prevalent.
Q3. If possible, a categorization of the types of phones stolen (e.g., smartphone brands or models).
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that the requested information is not centrally recorded and is therefore not held in a readily retrievable format. There is no offence of theft of mobile phone, and no way of readily identifying from the crime recording system where this has occurred in relation to an offence. In order to determine a response to the request, it would be necessary to manually review each and every offence of theft, burglary, and robbery recorded in the specified periods. The business area has conducted a search for all offences recorded in a 12-month period, where a mobile phone could feasibly be reported stolen, and this returned over 9,400 crimes. This figure would likely double for the full specified period, and, at a conservative estimate of 3 minutes per record to review, this would equate to in excess of 939 hours of work. Therefore, this would exceed 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. For Police forces in the UK, the "appropriate limit" is up to 18 hours of work on one request.
In accordance with Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for your request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance; however, due to the volume of records that would need to be individually reviewed, I am unable to suggest a way to reduce your request into one which could be managed within the fees limit.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB