FOI 687-2023 / July 2023 / Burglaries

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 687-2023

I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 24^th July 2023 as follows:

I would like to receive data on the total number of reported burglaries in the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 and the total number of these incidents which were resourced.

Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.

For this request, the term resourced, has been interpreted as ‘attended’.

Response: Please be advised that some of the requested information is not centrally recorded and is therefore not held in a readily retrievable format. Regarding the second part of the request, the number of reported burglaries which were resourced, I can advise that mandatory attendance is required in all circumstances where a burglary of a residential dwelling involves person or persons entering the property and items being stolen. However, in order to identify burglaries that fit this description, as well as determining attendance figures for all other types of burglary offences, it would be necessary to manually examine each investigation on an individual basis. Such searches would take an inordinate amount of time, and the work involved in carrying out this process would exceed the cost threshold (£450), which equates to 18 hours work at a standard rate of £25 per hour, as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.

In accordance with section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this request, and, if one part exceeds the limit then this applies to the whole 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 manually reviewed to determine attendance, I am unable to suggest a way to reduce this part of your request into one which could be managed within the fees limit.  I can however advise that all reported burglaries are recorded and correctly classified on the crime recording system and are then allocated to an officer or trained investigator.  Warwickshire Police do not ‘screen out’ or file crimes without investigation.  The level of enquiries and actions undertaken are determined by the individual circumstances of each crime.  Once the allocated officer or trained investigator has ascertained there are no further lines of enquiry, and it is no longer proportionate to continue with the investigation, their actions and findings are reviewed by a senior officer who determines if the investigation should be filed.  This is carried out with the expectation that the victim has been fully informed of the decision-making process.

As a gesture of goodwill, a response to the first part of your request, the total number of reported burglaries for the specified period, has been provided below.  When reviewing the information, please be advised that searches were conducted for all Home Office offences classified under ‘Burglary Residential’, ‘and ‘Burglary Business and Community’, including attempted, aggravated and distraction offences.

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

[email protected]