FOI 1105-2023 / Dec 2023 / Lost bank cards
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 1105-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 5th December 2023 as follows:
- I would like to request the number of bank cards (credit or debit) that have been reported lost each year between 2018 and 2023 (so far), separated by year. If possible, please also separate the data by month. For example, X cards were reported lost in January 2018, Y cards were reported lost in February 2018, etc.
- I would like to request the same data as above but for the number of bank cards reported stolen.
- If this data is not stored separately, I would like to request the combined figure for both lost and stolen cards (or the closest stored dataset) across the date range specified.
- If possible, could the data please be broken down by postcode area or location in which the loss/theft occurred.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that the requested information in relation to Q2 is not centrally recorded and is therefore not held in a readily retrievable format. There is no specific identifier for stolen bank cards, and no flag or marker to easily identify when this has occurred in relation to an offence. Keyword searches are not carried out routinely as they are not reliable, they will only bring back records where the chosen keyword(s) is present within the MO Description / Incident Summary of an investigation, these are limited free text fields and do not contain all information in relation to an investigation. In this case, conducting a keyword search for ‘card’, ‘bank-card’ etc would be even less accurate, as, for example, all that may be present within the MO Description could be a report of a stolen wallet, or a residential burglary, and, in both cases, this could involve a stolen bank card which is only mentioned in the in the wider investigation documentation. Depending on the individual circumstances, thefts involving a bank card could be classified as Burglary (business or residential), Theft, or Vehicle Crime (such as ‘Theft from a Motor Vehicle’), and, for the reasons set out above, it would therefore be necessary to individually review the wider investigation documentation for each and every offence, recorded during the stated period. Given the number of such offences recorded annually by the force, searches would take an inordinate amount of time and would undoubtedly 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 this 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, which 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. Even attempting to conduct searches for one year would exceed the fees limit.
With regard to Q1, there is a call type on the Command and Control System of ‘Lost/Found’ and, although the inaccuracies of a keyword search do exist within the Command & Control System also, it is considered that this could provide more accurate information as, if an individual is reporting a lost bank card specifically, this is likely to be recorded within the free text of the log.
Therefore, you may wish to resubmit your request in relation to reports of lost bank cards only; however, please be aware that there are 2607 logs recorded under ‘Lost/Found’ during the period and, although a keyword search could be undertaken for ‘card’, ‘bank card’, ‘debit card’ etc; it would depend on the number returned as to whether they could be examined for relevance 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