FOI Deaths during / following police contact 2021/2022 (0511-2022/23)
Request
Please provide the following information regarding deaths during or following police contact for the 2021/2022 financial year:
1.Road traffic incident fatalities
The number of deaths of motorists, cyclists or pedestrians arising from police pursuits, police vehicles responding to emergency calls and other police traffic-related It does not include deaths following a road traffic incident (RTI) where the police have attended immediately after the event as an emergency service
Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity (white, Asian, black, mixed, other or not known)
2.Fatal shootings
The number of deaths where police officers fired the fatal shot using a conventional firearm
Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity (white, Asian, black, mixed, other or not known)
3.Deaths in or following police custody
The number of deaths in or following police custody, This includes deaths that occur while a person is being arrested or taken into detention. It includes deaths of persons who have been arrested or have been detained by police under the Mental Health Act 1983. The death may have taken place on police, private or medical premises, in a public place or in a police or other vehicle. For example: Deaths that occur during or following police custody where injuries that contributed to the death were sustained during the period of detention, deaths that occur in or on the way to hospital (or other medical premises) following or during transfer from scene of arrest or police custody, deaths that occur as a result of injuries or other medical problems that are identified or that develop while a person is in custody.
Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity (white, Asian, black, mixed, other or not known)
4.Apparent suicides following police custody
The number of apparent suicides that occur within two days of release from police custody. It also includes apparent suicides that occur beyond two days of release from custody, where the period spent in custody may be relevant to the subsequent death
Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity (white, Asian, black, mixed, other or not known)
5.Other deaths following police contact
The number of deaths that follow contact with the police, either directly or indirectly, that did not involve arrest or detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 and were subject to an independent investigation by the IOPC.
Please provide a breakdown by ethnicity (white, Asian, black, mixed, other or not known)
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.
Response
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. The information you have requested is held across a number of systems within a number of departments and is not stored in a way which can be retrieved as per your request. In order to retrieve the requested information, it would be necessary to manually review all deaths following police contact, all shootings by police officers, all road traffic fatalities and all suicides to ascertain which, if any are relevant to your request, which would exceed 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, due to the information provided above I am unable to suggest how you may refine your request and still receive the information within the cost threshold. If you wish to discuss this please do not hesitate to contact me.
You may find the information on the below link useful.
Annual deaths during or following police contact statistics | Independent Office for Police Conduct
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.