FOI 0445-2023/24 - Parcel Thefts
Request:
Q1 How many instances of parcel theft (i.e. parcels stolen from somebody’s doorstep, or other cases where thieves steal a package, for example by impersonating a delivery person or homeowner) were reported between the following dates (NOTE: If the request will be too time-consuming, please share the most recent cases first)?
- 01/08/2022 – 31/07/2023
Q2 If possible, can you share the number of reported instances of parcel theft (i.e. parcels stolen from somebody’s doorstep, or other cases where thieves steal a package, for example by impersonating a delivery person or homeowner) by month for each of the date ranges provided in question one or, if this is not possible, any data that would make it possible to calculate this?
Q3 If possible, can you share either the total reported value of stolen parcels for the date ranges provided in question one or, if this is not possible, any data that would make it possible to calculate this?
Q4 If possible, can you share the most common time of day when parcels were stolen (using the date ranges provided in question one) in the following format, or, if not possible, any data that would make it possible to calculate this?
- A - 09.01 – 17.00
- B - 17.01 – 22.00
- C - 22.01 – 09.00
Q5 If possible, can you share the most common age of the people reporting theft (for the date ranges provided in question one) in the following format, or any data that would make it possible to calculate this?
- A - 21 and under
- B - 22-34
- C - 35-44
- D - 45-54
- E - 55-64
- F - 65 and over
Response:
Extent of Searches to Locate Information
Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information.
Decision
I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.
Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. Our information retrieval process generally relies on a computer ran report which captures any information recorded upon the surface of a record or within specified fields. Where relevant information is held deeper in the record, or outside of a specified field, a manual assessment is usually required to retrieve that information.
In reference to Q1 and Q2, to retrieve the requested information in relation to parcel thefts, it would be necessary to manually review each crime/incident relating to ‘Theft of Mail’ to ascertain if it related to a parcel and then where and how it was taken.
In reference to Q4, when an incident is reported to the police the ’committed start time’ and ‘committed end time’ are manually input into the incident report however, due to the nature of theft as a crime, the time that a theft occurred is not always known by the victim. As a result, thefts are often recorded with start and end times sometimes hours and/or days apart as the crime is often reported to have occurred between those two dates or times and therefore, we are unable to provide a 24-hour breakdown of when a burglary occurred as they are not recorded with a specific time and date. It may be that further information is held within each individual incident record, regarding the time the burglary was committed, but this would require a manual read of every report, which would involve reading through over a thousand reports, therefore exceeding the time limit allowed under the Act.
Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.
Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). However, we may be able to provide information for part 3 and 5 of your request if you resubmit and omit part 1, 2 and 4. If you wish to discuss this please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.