FOI 0977-2024/25 Child Abductions

Request
Q1. How many attempted and successful child abductions occurred in your regional police force area during the years of 2018 and 2019, broken down by month.

Q2. How many attempted and successful child abductions occurred in your regional police force area during the year of 2024, broken down by month - and during the month of January 2025, to date.

Q3. With respect to the 2024 attempted and successful child abductions could you please tell me:

Where did these attempted/successful abductions take place?

When did they take place? 

What description of the attempted/successful abductor was made available to the public?

What description of the attempted/successful abductor is held on record?

I am only concerned with non-parental attempted/successful child abductions.

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.

I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. 

Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.

Q1. Please see the table below showing the number of reported non-parental abductions which fall within Home Office crime category ‘Abduction of a child by other persons’ in the calendar years 2018 and 2019. I am exempting a monthly breakdown of this data pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) to prevent the identification and protect the anonymity for those involved in each case. Please see the below exemption explanation.

Q2. Please see the table below showing the number of reported non-parental abductions which fall within Home Office crime category ‘Abduction of a child by other persons’ in the calendar year 2024. I am exempting a monthly breakdown of this data pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) to prevent the identification and protect the anonymity for those involved in each case. Please see the below exemption explanation.

Q3. I am exempting this information pursuant to Section 30 and 40(2) of the Act, for reasons of investigative prejudice and to prevent the identification and protect the anonymity of those involved in each case.

Exemption Explanation

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you 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.

Section 40(2) – Personal Information

Section 40(2) is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).

Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.

This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned.

Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Section 30(1) – Investigations
Section 30 is a qualified, class-based exemption, which requires that I conduct a public interest test to balance the legitimate interests of the public in knowing the information against the interests of non-disclosure.

Reasons for Disclosure
The public have an interest in understanding how the police investigate crime. Disclosure of the requested information may give members of the public a better awareness which may reduce crime. There is legitimate public interest in knowing how public funds are spent.

Reasons against Disclosure
Law enforcement tactics could be compromised. The force’s future law enforcement capabilities would be affected. Disclosure could hinder the prevention and detection and crime, as any offenders could potentially take measure to avoid detection. Information may undermine the operational integrity of any ongoing investigation. Premature disclosure could adversely affect public safety and have a negative impact on Police investigations.

Balancing Test
After considering the reasons for and against disclosure, it is my opinion that the reasons for non-disclosure outweigh the reasons for disclosure. 

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to part of your request.

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.