FOI 398-2025 / Apr 2025 / Arrests
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 398-2025
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 3rd April 2025 as follows:
Q1. How many arrests have your police force made for the offences of supplying controlled drugs or possession with intent to supply controlled drugs in the last year (2024 calendar year) for young persons aged sixteen or under?
Q2. Please provide if possible the figures for each age group i.e. ten, eleven, twelve etc and also broken down by gender for each of the two offences, breaking the alleged offences down by Class A and Class B drugs.
Q3. For those children who were arrested AND were aged 13 or under please provide specific details on the charge they were arrested on and the exact type and class of drug they were alleged to have been involved with as well as their age
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Q1 response: 5
Q2 response: Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
When refusing to provide such information, because the information is exempt, Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire Police to provide 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.
I can advise that the requested information is held; however, the information is not suitable for disclosure in the requested format.
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 low numbers, providing the requested breakdown is likely to lead to the identification of an individual(s), and provide personal information. 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 for the requested breakdown. Please see the information I am able to provide set out below.
|
Age |
Total |
|
15 to 16 years |
5 |
|
Grand Total |
5 |
|
Gender |
Total |
|
Male |
5 |
|
Female |
0 |
|
Grand Total |
5 |
|
Drug Class |
Total |
|
Class A |
2 |
|
Class B |
3 |
|
Grand Total |
5 |
Please note that the numerical data presented above is an unaudited snapshot of unpublished data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data
Q3 response: Not applicable.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible. However, it is important to note that the data is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, therefore care should be taken to ensure data collection processes, and their inevitable limitations are considered when interpreting the data
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 Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB