FOI 441-2024 / Apr 2024 / Arrests at protests
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 441-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 22nd April 2024 as follows:
- Between 28th April 2022 and 21st April 2024, how many arrests were made at protests under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022?
- How many prosecutions resulted from the arrests totalled in Q1 during the same time period?
- Between 28th April 2022 and 21st April 2024, how many arrests were made at protests under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, citing criminal damage to memorials?
- How many prosecutions resulted from the arrests totalled in Q3 during the same time period?
- Between 28th April 2022 and 21st April 2024, how many arrests were made at protests under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, citing new stop, search and seizure powers?
- How many prosecutions resulted from the arrests totalled in Q5 during the same time period?
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 also no identifier within the Custody System which would allow for the extraction of individuals arrested or charged in relation to protest activity and, in order to determine such information, it would be necessary to manually review all custody logs, recorded in the specified time period, for specific circumstances of the arrest, and, where relevant records were located, whether an individual had been charged.
This would take an inordinate amount of time and 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 this request.
Under Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance; however, given the amount of work involved, I am unable to suggest a way that you could reasonably pare down your request into one which could be handled within the time allowed.
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