FOI 684-2023 / July 2023 / Spiking
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 684-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 21st July 2023 as follows:
For the time period covering 01/09/21 to 20/07/23, please provide:
Q1. The number of reports received by the force in relation to spiking via injection.
Q2. The number of arrests made by the force in relation to spiking via injection.
Q3. The number of subsequent charges made in relation to spiking via injection.
Q4. The number of subsequent convictions in relation to spiking via injection.
Please provide the above information in an Excel spreadsheet format, presented as a month-by-month breakdown.
“Spiking via injection” is defined as any incident in which someone is injected with drugs without their consent—also referred to as “needle spiking”.
Please find the Warwickshire response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that there is no specific offence of ‘spiking’, and no flag or marker within the crime recording system to easily identify when this is relevant to an offence. In order to attempt to accurately determine the number of offences where this could be a factor, it would be necessary to individually examine all crimes recorded during the stated period. This would take an inordinate amount of time, which would undoubtedly exceed the limit 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 considered to be up to 18 hours of work on one request.
In accordance with section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter is a Refusal Notice for this request.
In order to provide assistance, the business area has conducted a keyword search for all offences recorded between 1st September 2021 and 20th July 2023, where the words ‘spike’, ‘spiked’ or ‘spiking’, appear within the MO Description. The records have then been manually reviewed to remove false positives, such as ‘spiked hair’ etc, and to locate any that make specific mention of spiking by injection.
As a gesture of goodwill, responses to Q1, Q2 and Q3 have been provided below using this keyword data. However, it is important to note that, in the event there are relevant offences recorded, but where these specific keywords are not present within the MO description, then these will not have been returned within the search. For this reason, information retrieved by way of a keyword search cannot be assumed to be accurate.
Q1 response: Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, requires Warwickshire 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.
The exemption applicable in this case is:
Section 40(2) Personal Information
Section 40 is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require evidence of the harm disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a public interest test. That being said, where Section 40(2) is engaged, in order to make the exemption absolute there needs to be evidence that a Data Protection Principle would be breached by disclosure.
This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with any other information from within the Police Service or public domain. In this case, due to very low numbers, providing a breakdown by month, is likely to lead to the identification of an individual and provide personal information in relation to an individual. Such a disclosure would breach individuals’ rights under the Data Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR which states that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.
This letter serves as a refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act, in relation to a breakdown by month. Please see the information I am able to provide set out below.
|
Year |
Total |
|
2021 (from 01/09/2021) |
8 |
|
2022 |
4 |
|
2023 (up to 20/07/2023) |
2 |
|
Grand Total |
14 |
Q2 & Q3 response: Regarding investigations that have been finalised, I can advise that there were no arrests or charges.
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