FOI 953/25

Request

I would like to find out the number of crimes reported on canals and navigable rivers (and their banks/towpaths) in your jurisdiction, please, broken down by year over the past five years. If you record this by calendar year, that would be 2019-2024, if it is by financial year then 2020/21 to 2024/25 please.

If possible, I would also like to know the breakdown of these crimes by type, if it doesn't mean too much work and invalidating this request.

Response

Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.         

In relation to your request, the following exemption applies:  

Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.

A search has been conducted on our crime and incident recording system (Niche RMS) for all crimes recorded between 1st January 2019 and 31st December 2024. This search retrieved 635043 occurrences. 

To determine whether the crime took place on a canal or riverbank would require us to individually interrogate each occurrence. 

We estimate that it would take 2 minutes to interrogate each occurrence to determine the exact location. We therefore estimate that it would take over 18 hours to retrieve the information.

It is estimated that the cost of providing you with the information is above 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.  

In the case of the police service, the appropriate limit is £450 which has been calculated to equate to a total of 18 hours of work. 

If any part of the request exceeds the fees limit then Section 12 applies to the whole request. 

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a refusal notice. 

Excess cost removes the forces obligation under the Freedom of Information Act, however under Section 16 – Duty to provide advice and assistance, an authority is required to offer an applicant the opportunity to redefine their request within the cost limits.

Unfortunately, due to the way in which data is recorded, we can see no feasible way in which you could refine your request.