FOI 542-2024 / May 2024 / Mental health callouts
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: FOI-542-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 31st May 2024 and clarification received on 24th June 2024 as follows:
- What is the total number of mental health related callouts (CAD records) that Warwickshire Police have responded to over the last five years? I would like this information to be provided for each of the last five calendar years as follows: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.
- Please could you also provide the proportion of total callouts that relate to mental health incidents (e.g. 40%).
- How many detentions were made related to mental health incidents in the last five calendar years?
On 24th June 2024 we requested the following clarification:
Regarding Q3, please note that in most cases, when an individual has been detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA) they are taken straight to an appropriate place of safety such as a hospital. Providing an individual is not already in custody, a police custody block is used only as a last resort, and when there is no other place of safety available.
Therefore, for Q3, please could you clarify whether you are asking for:
- The number of times an individual has been detained under s135 or s136 of the Mental Health Act, irrespective of whether they were taken straight to a place of safety (i.e. hospital) or a police custody block, or
- The number of times an individual, detained under s135 or s136 of the MHA, has to be taken to a police custody block as a place of safety, or
- The number of times an individual, who was under arrest and had a mental health assessment in custody, was de-arrested so they could be detained under MHA, to be transferred to a place of safety as soon as practicable, or
- Something else?
On 24th June you provided the following:
For question three, please provide the number of times an individual has been detained under s135 or s136 of the Mental Health Act, irrespective of whether they were taken straight to a place of safety (i.e. hospital) or a police custody block.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing the response to your request and for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below. When reviewing the information please note that it was obtained as follows:
- For Q1, searches were undertaken for all incidents reported via the Command & Control System, during the stated period, which include a Mental Health qualifier.
- For Q3, searches were undertaken of the Crime Recording System for records, during the stated period, with either a primary or included classification ‘Mental Health Investigation – Detention under S135 (i/ii) Mental Health Act 1983’ or ‘ Mental Health Investigation – Detention under S136 Mental Health Act 1983’.
Please note that the response to Q3 is not in direct correlation with the incidents in Q1. The Command and Control System and the Crime Recording System are not linked and were we to determine the number of incidents from Q1 which resulted in a detention it would be necessary to cross reference each and every one of records returned in Q3 to ascertain whether they originated from one of the incidents included in Q1. This work 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.
Q1 response:
|
Year |
Total |
|
2019 |
1631 |
|
2020 |
1645 |
|
2021 |
1935 |
|
2022 |
2050 |
|
2023 |
2986 |
Q2 response:
|
Year |
Number of Incidents with Mental Health Qualifier |
Total Number of Incidents |
% Incidents with a Mental Health qualifier |
|
2019 |
1631 |
154391 |
1% |
|
2020 |
1645 |
155873 |
1% |
|
2021 |
1935 |
144970 |
1% |
|
2022 |
2050 |
130112 |
2% |
|
2023 |
2986 |
133753 |
2% |
Q3 response:
|
Year |
Total |
|
2019 |
202 |
|
2020 |
305 |
|
2021 |
168 |
|
2022 |
131 |
|
2023 |
120 |
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