FOI 994-2025 / Oct 2025 / VW sensor thefts
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 994-2025
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 6th October 2025 as follows:
Please can you provide me with the following information:
- Reports of theft of VW (Volkswagen) Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) radar sensors from 1stJanuary 2024- 5thOctober 2025, broken down by month.
- How many arrests (broken down by month)
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that the information requested is not available in a readily retrievable format. There is no specific offence for theft of VW (Volkswagen) Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) radar sensors, and no marker or identifier to determine where this has formed part of a crime. Keyword searches are not carried out routinely as they are not reliable, they will only bring back records where the chosen keyword(s) is present within the MO Description / Incident Summary of an investigation, these are limited free text fields and do not contain all information in relation to an investigation. In order to determine whether such offences have taken place, and to ensure that all relevant information is located, it would be necessary to individually examine the wider investigation papers associated with each and every ‘Theft from Motor Vehicle’ and ‘Interfering or tampering with a motor vehicle’ offence, recorded in the stated period. As you will appreciate such searches would take an inordinate amount of time and would greatly 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 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request; however, due to the number of records which would need to be examined, I am unable to suggest a way to revise your request into one which could be managed within the fees limit.
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