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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 927-2023
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 9th October 2023 as follows:
Q1. How many application packs for Stalking Protection Orders were completed by police officers/staff in Warwickshire Police during the period 01 May 2022 – 31 December 2022? (If possible, please indicate the month of application. If this is too onerous, a total is sufficient).
Q1a. Of these application packs, how many were authorised by superintendents (or equivalent) and put before the court?
Q2. Of the Stalking Protection Orders put before the court by Warwickshire Police in the period 01 May 2022 – 31 December 2022, how many were granted by the court?
Q3. How many application packs for Interim Stalking Protection Orders were completed by police officers/staff in Warwickshire Police during the period 01 May 2022 – 31 December 2022? (If possible, please indicate the month of application. If this is too onerous, a total is sufficient).
Q3a. Of these application packs, how many were authorised by superintendents (or equivalent) and put before the court?
Q4. Of the Interim Stalking Protection Orders put before the court by Warwickshire Police in the period 01 May 2022 – 31 December 2022, how many were granted by the court?
Q5. How many stalking incidents were recorded by Warwickshire Police in the period 01 May 2022 – 31 December 2022? (If possible, please indicate the month of application. If this is too onerous, a total is sufficient).
Q5a. If this data is available, please indicate how many of these incidents were flagged as cyber-dependant and/or cyber-enabled.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that not all of the requested information is centrally recorded and is therefore not held in a readily retrievable format. Regarding Q1, there is no way of readily identifying from the crime recording system whether an application for a Stalking Protection Order has been completed. In order to determine the total number of all applications completed for the stated period, including those that have not progressed to the authorisation or court stage, it would be necessary to manually review each and every stalking offence for the specified period. The business area has advised that there were 577 stalking offences recorded between 1st May 2022 and 31st December 2022, and, at an estimate of 5 minutes per crime to review, this would equate to in excess of 48 hours of work. Furthermore, this would not take in to account any stalking offences, recorded prior to 1st May 2022, where an application for a Stalking Protection Order was completed during the stated period. Therefore, this part of the request 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 is a Refusal Notice for this part of the request, and, if one part of a request exceeds the fees limit, then section 12 of the Act applies to the whole request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to refining your request. I can advise that it may be possible to provide the number of Stalking Protection Order applications put before the court during the requested period, and how many of these resulted in an order being granted, along with responses to Q5 and Q5a, should you wish to revise and resubmit your request.
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